South India Sprint Motorcycle Ride
Neeraj Purohit
Every rider has a dream to ride at Leh, Ladakh, to explore the North side of India. I also have these rides in my bucket list but before that, I wanted to explore the southern part of India. South India has its own beauty which we can’t compare with the North.
Before
South India Sprint ride I have visited South India couple of times exploring
Hampi, Murudeshwar, Dandeli, Gokarna..all of them in Karnataka State. This time
I wanted to cover most parts of Southern India in one go keeping the ride
limited to 10 days.
I
already had a plan in place which I shared with my friend, Aniket Deshmukh. He
decided to join me for the ride & then PLAN WAS ON!
Day 1 – Destination: Mangalore
We started our ride from Pune at 4.30 am in the
morning & reached Mangalore at 9.30 pm in the night. Since it was day one
we were quite pumped up but it was a hell of a ride because of the bad road
condition from Murudeshwar to Udupi. Our day one was closed with 770 km!! I
made my own record of covering the max distance in a day.
Day 2 –
Destination: Coimbatore
Mangalore was not our destination to explore it was
just an overnight destination to take rest & travel further. So, we started
our journey towards Coimbatore at 6.30 am in the morning. We chose to ride via
Coorg & Ooty. The roads were lovely, there is greenery everywhere around
& the best thing was passed through Bandipur Tiger Reserve where we saw
peacocks & dears while traveling. We reached Coimbatore late in the night.
Day 3 – Visit
Adiyogi Shiva Statue in Coimbatore & travel further to Kanyakumari
Before the beginning of our journey towards Kanyakumari, we
visited the main attraction of Coimbatore, Adiyogi Shiva Statue. It is the
largest bust sculpture in the world & has been recognized by Guinness World
Records. It is in Tamil Nadu state, Coimbatore.
After visiting Adiyogi Statue we started our journey
towards Kanyakumari & we reached there in the evening by 7.30 pm. Now we
have reached the southernmost tip of India.
Day 4 – Exploring Kanyakumari & Travel Further to Rameswaram
We woke up early morning to see the beautiful sunrise
from the southernmost tip of India. We also saw Tri-Sea Sangam, where Indian
Ocean, Bay of Bengal & Arabian sea meet. After seeing the sunrise, we had
breakfast then we visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Thiruvalluvar
Statue. Kanyakumari is the place where you would get see breath-taking views of The Indian Ocean.
In the afternoon we started our journey towards Rameswaram
it is only 250 km from Kanyakumari.
Day 5 In Rameswaram
We woke up early morning & started heading to
Dhanushkodi – The Last Land of India.
It is just 20kms from Rasmes. The road to Dhanushkodi is just awesome. Two
sides sea, the road in the middle, high breeze blowing, sky on the top. We reached endpoint it is the last land of India & from there Sri Lanka is just
25kms away!!
Rameswaram has very much importance in Hindu mythology
since it is a place where major events from Ramayana took place.
Places we visited –
Rameswaram Temple.
Ramar Patham Temple.
Pambam Bridge.
Dr. APJ Kalam Memorial
Dhanushkodi - The
Last Land of India
Day 6 –
Destination: Pondicherry
We started our journey towards Pondicherry in the
morning & reached by early evening. It is approx. 350 km from Kanyakumari.
We took the famous East Coast Road highway. It has super smooth tarmac &
lovely surroundings while you travel.
After reaching Pondicherry we visited Auroville
beach enjoyed sunset the sunset there.
Day 7 In
Pondicherry
Pondicherry is the place where you can visit French
Colonies without a French visa! Why go to France? We have it here in India. A
city where you live French culture, from stunning architectures to beautiful
beaches, tasty food & lovely people.
Places we visited –
French Colonies
Matrimandir, Auroville
Auroville Beach
Bharathi Park – Greek-Roman architecture.
Our Lady of Angels Church
Day 8 –
Destination: Bangalore/Chitradurga
From this day our return journey towards Pune started.
First, we had decided to take an overnight halt at Bangalore but later we
decided to skip Bangalore & stop bit ahead so that we can skip the
unnecessary traffic of the city and we would cover less distance on our last
day. So, we halted at Chitradurga km ahead of Bangalore city.
Day 9 – Destination: Pune, Back to home.
This was the last day our ride, last time we were
packing & loading our saddlebags on our bikes. It was an emotional day
since because this was journey was going to end. For the last eight days were like
Ride, Explore, Eat, Sleep & Repeat.
We started our journey at 6.30 in the morning towards
Pune & reached at 7.30pm in the evening covering 650kms for our last day!!
About Rider :
Neeraj owns Bajaj Avenger 150 street. Riding for the last 5 years. Neeraj has done many
rides across Pune, Maharashtra. So far I have traveled to Gujarat, Rajasthan,
Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu on my bike. My dream is to travel the whole of India on a motorcycle. My upcoming long ride plans are Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Golden
Quadrilateral, Leh Ladakh, Spiti Valley.
Route / Map
Route:
Pune – Mangalore – Coimbatore – Kanyakumari – Rameswaram –
Pondicherry – Bangalore (Chritradurga) - Pune.
Days:
9
Distance
covered – 4000kms approx.
Superb 👍
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