Day-3 Kasaragod to Calicut

We planned an early start, but my mom had set up a lavish breakfast (probably she didn’t want her ‘baby son’ & his wife riding a heavy bike for long hours on an empty stomach!). With our stomachs filled to its brim & saying goodbye to mom,





we head out from beach road to Wyanad road and take a right at Malaparambh junction to the National Highway 17 Bypass, which is a really nice & smooth stretch of tarmac albeit with some traffic as the calicut airport is also in the same route.











Till the stretch to the airport I spot a few premium cars like a Cayenne, Land Cruiser, Q7 and quite a few BMWs..well calicut sure has its share of exotic car lovers! We then cross the Chaliyar river and the luxury Kadavu Resort





Continuing straight from the Ramanatukara junction (airport exit)

















Had to considerably slow down for these guys in the jeep as I didn’t intend contributing to the state treasury!





and heading towards Kottakal, which is the headquarters of arguably one of the finest Ayurvedic treatment centers in the world- the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala. From here we continue to Vallancherry, Edapal, Chavakkad and stop for lunch at Kodungallur at K.R.Bakes.































Parking at K.R.Bakes(bakery & restaurant) for our lunch break



When you are hungry, everything looks exciting!





Here in Kodungallur we also passed in front of the historic Cheraman Mosque (which is the first mosque built in India in the year 629 AD).





After Kodungallur we encounter a nice stretch of road for bikers with smooth tarmac, sparse traffic and lots of twists & turns. The tall GS was having a great time on this stretch cruising for long distances at about 90-110kph.



















Finally, at Paravur we branch off left towards Aluva, where a close relative is expecting us for a simple tea break. We face a slight dizzle entering into Aluva, but that goes away in a few minutes. We arrive at our pit-stop and well it finally turns out to be a tea party with lots of home made lip smacking snacks etc. Yuummm…



A golden colored classic Ambassador car!!

They stay right at the bank of the beautiful Periyar river and after a small photo session, we are back on the road heading towards Kochi.

In the meanwhile I remembered that in Jeddah I had lowered my handlebar height a little, but on this trip it was hindering with my tankbag. So on the way we take a small detour onto National Highway 47 Bypass Road that passes thru the BMW Car dealer in Cochin- Platino Classic, to adjust my handlebar height with their torque wrench. Alex the chief engineer who I am told has previously worked on BMW bikes in Bahrain although not a tall person, he comfortably rode my fully loaded GS into their workshop floor and did the work instantly.

Ashiq the dealership owner is a wonderful guy and stood with us all the while and being a friend of my brother - well the work is complimentary- Thanks Ashiq.



After all the chat there, it is already dark and I have to chug thru peak hour Kochi traffic towards MG Road.

With Christmas round the corner, many of the churches are all brightly lit and there is a festive atmosphere all around. Meanwhile, my brother has arranged our room reservation at the Woodlands Hotel, which has a nice basement parking at its adjacent building for my GS.

My brother was in Kochi on work and special thanks to him for the wonderful dinner he invited us to. We called it a day at 11:00pm.