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Day-1 Bangalore-Hassan
Honestly,
it was with mixed feelings, I was beginning the
trip. On one side the excitement & happiness
of finally starting the trip for which lots of
preparations were done. On the other side, I had
loads of people advising me- This is India and
its too dangerous etc, and although I regularly
drive my car in India, I was riding a bike there
after 19 years. Also, I know BMWs are reliable
bikes but what if there are any mechanical failures
beyond my capabilities, it would be the end of
this dream trip for which I had spent a lot of
effort & money. I had already lost a good
sponsor due to the postponement of my trip from
October to December so I didn’t want more
crazy things happen.
Wanting
to make an early start, after fuelling up, I realize
I don’t need to carry all the original customs
clearance/carnet papers etc for fear of losing
it and hence a photocopy will do. Well not as
simple as it sounds since most photocopy guys
don’t start this early. By the time I am
done with that, its already 9:15 am & here
we begin our journey from our home heading towards
Trinity circle on MG Road. In peak traffic with
Metro work under progress etc, it took us almost
1.5 hours to travel a distance of 5-6 kms in absolute
gridlock traffic.
Definitely
this is not much fun with a tall & heavy bike
My
bike doesn’t mind crawling at slow speeds,
but stop & go traffic means he gets restless
and overheats with his oil/air cooled system without
a fan. This meant I had to switch off the engine
everytime the traffic came to a complete halt.
Also handling a heavy bike with pillion, luggage
etc in crawling traffic together with the ambient
heat, sweating inside the riding gear as well
as exhaust from all the vehicles, it was too much
to take in at the very start of our trip and I
felt like passing out on more than one occasion
(that would have been the joke of the year!) Anyway,
we are finally out of Bangalore onto Tumkur road.by
11:00am. Then we get the 4-lane tarmac ribbon
until Nelamangala and take left there towards
Hassan. The roads are being widened/double laning
etc so there are lots of detours and few bad patches,
but overall I am able to maintain 100 kph plus
speeds on my lovely GS.
Our
first hydration break for tender coconuts (BTW,
I find this the best hydration method in India
as its natural, healthy, unadulterated and rejuvenating)
The
few villagers here instantly want to know the
price & mileage of the bike and also politely
remind me the headlight is on!
Curiously
examining a UFO in their village…
Soon
we are back riding and take our lunch break(improvised!)
at the popular Café Coffee Day joint in
a place before the town of Adichunchungiri.
From
thereon it’s a straight ride to the city
of Hassan thru lush green fields and light to
moderate traffic.
We
check into the govt guest house (thru some high
contacts) at about 2:30pm. It’s a huge room
and the bathroom was big enough to host a football
match…
We
immediately unload our stuff & head to the
famous UNESCO World Heritage site BELUR. The roads
are an absolute treat. Well paved, lots of twists
& curves, sparse traffic. Surprisingly at
the temple, there is no entry fee (sometimes I
like our Indian govt for such gestures), but we
take a guide for Rs 150 (US$ 4) and he explains
all the intricate details of the 900 year old
temple from the Hoysala dynasty and how it was
built by 3 generations of artisans and the monolith
stones used etc. Apparently the particular stone
used here is very soft underground, but once excavated
& exposed to atmosphere, it hardens. Mind
you, most of the carvings are done from one large
piece of stone so margins for error in those times
were zero! The intricate carving work & perfection
is absolutely mind-blowing.
Mind
you, all the above are carved from solid stone,
so pictures can never do any justice to the real
thing in Belur. It needs to be seen to appreciate
it. You can spend an hour here. Anyway, we wrapped
up the day with a nice vegetarian dinner at a
local joint. It’s a small place that’s
always full, but they serve mouth watering Aloo
Paratha & Methi Roti (variety of Indian breads).
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