October 2, 2007 - Tuesday. Nagerhole to Kannur

Trip start point Jungle Inn
Distance 140 Kms (approximately)
Trip end point Malabar Residency, Kannur
Route Nagerhole – Husur - Coorg – Irrity - Kannur
Duration/time 6 hours (11:30 AM – 5:30 PM)

The day began at right earnest. With the morning came the call, that Kerala would be the place to visit and not Mysore. God’s own country beckons.

So at breakfast a short quiz with the manager, re-confirmed the route and went back to the Bullet…ready to go. Problem. The rear tyre was FLAT. The friendly staff at the resort brought out a leg pump for air, the only way out, pump it up take it 20 kms to Hunsur and get it fixed.

Baggage dismantled quickly, a rushed out pumping later, I set out to Hunsur at rocket speed through the narrow lanes…

Found the puncture shop, got it fixed, bought a new tube, got it wheeled in, gassed up and rushed back to the resort. 2 hours gone. The most helpful manager came with me and helped through the entire drama… good to see people like this exist.

Back to resort, the entire baggage settled in. Distraught and a little stressed out, but then, that lit the fire in the belly to do what everyone seemed against. We both decided it had to be Kannur and not Mysore come hell or highwater. 11:30 AM.

So instead of turning right on Hunsur road we turned left. A fatal left turn that we came to learn within an hour or so of cruising through coffee and rubber plantations and slick roads and cool breeze on our faces.

Right after the plantations at Coorg the roads become a little potholed. But then, what the heck we thought, if this was what the guys back there were talking about, we’ve seen worse… this was nothing.

Somewhere, (I just did not observe nor do I remember the point) it starts to drizzle. And then came complete disaster. It came like hell unleashed. We hit what was the remnants of the hill road. It was mudslide, gorged up, watered, loose, bricked up, slush pits…

The speed came down to 2 kms/hour. We had to stop at various point and wifey had to dismantle. There were wide pools of mud which had to be ridden through. Jutting rocks which had to be avoided. Loose slippery mud to be crossed quickly, and that was not all, there was rain beating down from the heavens above. Well here's a real taste of gods own wrath.

We went on, soaking wet, praying that our water resist bags remained water resistant. From one hole to another, hop, skip and skid through the terrain.

Only those who did not know about this terrain chose to venture here apart from some foolhardy truckers who came this route to save a quick buck probably or were insane.

We found a stretch where trucks were stuck in the mud. The drivers were piling up rocks on a sudden death pit so that it could cross over. A couple of cars stalled in the middle drivers thinking of turning the other way around.

The rain began lashing out heavily. We stopped beneath some trees and in a mud pile. I got so stressed that I got the urge to puff a cigaratte. Which I did. I lit one and smoked it in the rain. AAAH. What a relief. That hit felt good. Once the nicotine got into my blood and that too after almost 4 months of laying off I was feeling lighter and the pain reduced, a little refreshed.

After that both of us went for it. Eff the rain. And this time focused and serious about getting over with this. Did not have the balls to take out my brand new camera kit to shoot this terrain as a show piece.

Gods own country they say Kerala is. I am sure, that was God’s own shit pot. Where he farted and crapped leaded balls to devastate anything that moved.

I wish the people in this part of the country woke up and started doing a bit of work. Like booting out their idiosyncratic government to the vultures. Bloody politicians filling up their own coffers while devastation like this exists.

Co-incidence that this was Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as well. What a debacle to the state of the nation.

On one side we talk of progress and on the other such disasters exist. The only thought I could summon up at that time was to build a remote controlled car chain the state head and his crony inside and run that car at 50 kms/hr (no more) flat out on the terrain ONE WAY. If he’s still alive, then, I am sure he would do something about the road within the next 24 hours.

For gods sake at least BLOCK THE TERRAIN for traffic!

We soon reached a shack which seemed like a place to get some tea and also get out of the rain and terrain for a bit. The shop served up delicious Kerala parotta’s (pancakes) and sweets. Wifey dug into them and we lighted up a bit.

As the rain slowed down a bit, we mounted the bull and were off again. We found that the rocks would last another 2 kms. Well after about half an hour we crossed the landslide zone and into a small town.

Passed through it quietly. Surprise, even here the roads were pothole ridden. Nothing compared to other terrain but then, not roads by any standards.

Wifey had taken the brunt of the attack from the rear… the jerking is more painful for the pillion rider and she almost gave up at a point. Where she just wanted to break off. Try to hire a cab (if one existed in these villages) and go.

Somehow managed to coax her to hang on. Some coffee and cigarettes later we rode on to Kannur. And that last 10 kms was good, we made it in one piece. Victory. Found our way to Hotel Malabar Residency a 3 star hotel vending out cheap rooms… well this was off season mate and no one comes here anyway.

The rest of the day went into unpack, drying, slugging a drink, eating and then blacking out! The worst was over.

Next day at Kannur. Click here.