from mumBAI to kanyaKUMARI ( from a city named after its goddess to another),
full on cultural and spiritual experience in many ways..
mumbai is named after the 'mumba devi' and kanyakumari after goddess 'parashakti'
the ride started on sat 09dec17 from home to first stop at poona..
ride to poona was like ride to another suburb in the city, poona doesn't feel distant, a cousin city
was amazing catching up with good old friends like a family after a long time..
its been almost 21 years of friendship and going on..
we've been thru many ups and downs together and feels blessed to have friends like these around
so, the day 1 of the trip was well spent with Samit and family in poona, and as expected my friend had nothing better than taking me around for a site visit. work and stress are the only things on his mind perpetually.
moving on.. day 2, was poona to bijapur ( vijayapur ) via solhapur.
crossing thru solhapur and from solhapur to bijapur was a pain in literal sense.
breaks between solhapur to bijapur more and more frequently than usual. don't want to rant about it, just not worth..
day 3 - Bijapur to Hampi - probably one of the best and pleasant rides of the trip..
day 3, 4 & 5 - hampi - words cannot describe the magnanimity of Hampi.. its beyond one's imagination how it could have been built in those days.
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| virupaksha temple, hampi |
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| monolith rock nandi |
riding an RE has it own merits and demerits, but thankfully there was a service centre along the way to take care of the problems. -
there was heavy oil leakage from the engine cover due to torn gasket over heating the engine, remember the frequent breaks.. yes!! oil leak and over heating was one of the problems. taking break to cool down the engine..
lesson learnt - don't panic in any situation, if there is a problem there has to be a solution, we need to take step back, breath.. review the situation and solution will arise..
stay at hampi.. this round room reminded of the "bhoongo" round room of kutch..
day 6 & 7 - mysore. another magnificent city.. the mysore palace is a live example of what opulence means. as much the palace and temples bring pride, same time it makes feel sad to realise how much we've lost in the last century or so..
day 8 - from a rich land of culture history of kannadiga's to another.. from karnataka into Tamil Nadu. the ride experience is only getting better and richer..
one of the best experiences of a trip are the sunrise and sunsets, usually in the city grind we just don't bother..
this ride was thru kamraja nagar wild forest area. regret not having the go pro camera installed and recorded the sharp 27 hair pin bends..
day 8 & 9 madurai - temples and another temple, magnificent after another. the meenaxi amma temple.. jus out of words, a pure blissful experience..
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| spoilt for choice, colour shape size, take ur pick! |
when in rome, do as he romans do.. when in South India, no meal is complete without it had on banana leaf and end with a good filter coffee..
day 10 - rameshwaram dhaushkodi
the long stretch from rameshwaram to dhanushkodi was similar and reminded of the ride to Dholavira, Kutch.
on way to dhanushkodi, to the left of the road was bay of bengal and right the arabian sea. for right is called the male and right the female.. no not because women are always right, it was just because of the nature of he tides.
arabian sea tides were small and calm, while the tides from bay of bengal were bigger and aggressive.. however weird it may sound, but it was an amazing fact..
and this is where solo riders meet and become friends for life.. this was Aanand taking my photo riding solo from Bangalore.. notice the waves of bay of bengal..
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| time for some photo shoot :) |
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| few things common between riders. showing of their bikes for photo shoot |
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| rameshwaram temple, one of the important shivaling / jyotir linga, this was where lord ram prayed to Shiva before attacking Ravan. |
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pamban bridge, connecting the mainland to Rameshwaram |
day 11 - welcome to KanyaKumari.. southern most tip of mainland India
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| mumbai to kanyakumari - home IS far away |
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| meet ANANDA from bangalore, co rider from rameshwaram onwards.. |
day 12 & 13 - were well spent chilling in Varkala, kerala
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stay in kerala is incomplete without an experience of watching "kathakali' dance performance and also time and efforts the artists put into doing the make-up. a must watch.
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| calm and serene - Varakala beach |
the next days after Varkala were spent soaking in a spiritual experience at Sivanada verdanta yoga ashram, neyyar dam, kerala.
my home in the ashram
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| the lords are always guiding us from above.. |
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| meditating along the sunrise, one of the most serene experience |
 our regular hang out adda at the ashram, old habits jus don't die  |
| last sunset of the trip |
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| packed up and ready to be loaded for back home |
this trip ended with a feeling of contentment and a happy feeling. usually all trips before had feeling of having something undone or left out, but this being a first of its kind..
chairaiveti chairaiveti.. KEEP ON GOING KEEP MOVING..
