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Yesterday I went on another long drive on my bike. Usually I decide on the route I want to go on in advance, I memorize all the turns, places I want to eat etc their distances down to the last kilometer. Since I dont know Kannada and Tamil I need to do this, because in villages asking for directions can get a bit tricky.
Yesterday I just got up and decided to drive to Hogenekkal. However the internet was not working properly so I couldnt do my research. I knew that the place is about 120 Km from Bangalore, I knew the two major towns near it as well, and since Hogenekkal is quite famous I thought I will just ask for directions. So off I went at 10 am... (without knowing how to get there)
I took the Hosur road (NH 7), drove straight till Krishnagiri. The drive was good, lots of greenrey, hills on either side of the highway and very less traffic. At Krishnagiri I asked for directions to Hogenekkal from a shopkeeper. All I understood was 'Kaveripattam' and 'right'. So I took a right turn from Kaveripattam leaving NH 7 behind. It was a 2 lane road, not very good, leading to a very very small town Kaveripattam. In the middle of the town I saw a small board, ( I almost missed this), pointing towards Hogenekkal 72 Km. At this point I was though about turning back, because 72 Km on that road was a crazy idea. It was already close to 1 pm and I had to go home before night as well.
Still I thought I have come so far, lets check out this road as well. After a few kms I was essentially in the middle of nowhere. It was a one lane road, with enough bumps to make going past 40-50 kmph impossible. Both sides of the road there was just greenrey and hills, and I would encounter just an occasional hut and not a signboard in English!. After a while I decided to call up someone and try to figure out where I was. The signal wasnt great but luckily managed to call up Ashok ( the call disconnected gazillion times in 15-20 minutes). Asked him to open a map, told him how I got to where I was and somehow he figured out that I wasnt too far off the course. ( I still cant find the road I was on in google maps!) He gave me some directions and names of villages I might encounter... Palacode and Pennagram. While redialling Ashok's number for the nth time I had also managed to stop a taxi going in the opposite direction. Luckily the driver knew Hindi. He also gave me the directions( but the distances he told me were way of the mark).
And I again continued my journey, and after about 10 kms reached a T- Juncation on a bigger road. Asked couple of people, and found that one side leads to Hosur on NH7 and the other to Hogenekkal... phew! The drive to Hogenekkal was easy from here on, there were sign boards every now and then and in English! The last few kms to Hogenekkal go through a forest reserve and hills, really green hills I must add, and also lots of monkeys.
Hogenekkal was kind of a disappointment, it too crowded with everyone (old men) getting a oil massage and bathing (sometihng I didnt want to see at all). The falls werent that great either, but were not so bad also. Also it was getting late, 3 pm now, and I still didnt know the way back very well. So I started back, asked a couple of folks about the shorted way to Bangalore, they told me to go to Dharmapuri on NH7 (45 Km) and then follow NH 7 back to Bangalore. But I wanted to take the smaller road to Hosur, as I was hoping that this would be shorter. As I left Hogenekkal there were 3 bikes going in front of me, all three Karnataka registration, so I decided to follow them and see where they are going.
These guys, I assumed were going to Bangalore, headed towards Dharmapuri and I against my better judgement(at that time) took the smaller road to Hosur. This turned out to be a fantastic road. Narrow, winding, 2 lane road with minimum traffic. I even found a 'Panjabi Dhaba' on this road! This road is the best I have driven on till now. Total of 358 Kms in a day, and a nice experience! Getting back to office work now...
Yesterday I just got up and decided to drive to Hogenekkal. However the internet was not working properly so I couldnt do my research. I knew that the place is about 120 Km from Bangalore, I knew the two major towns near it as well, and since Hogenekkal is quite famous I thought I will just ask for directions. So off I went at 10 am... (without knowing how to get there)
I took the Hosur road (NH 7), drove straight till Krishnagiri. The drive was good, lots of greenrey, hills on either side of the highway and very less traffic. At Krishnagiri I asked for directions to Hogenekkal from a shopkeeper. All I understood was 'Kaveripattam' and 'right'. So I took a right turn from Kaveripattam leaving NH 7 behind. It was a 2 lane road, not very good, leading to a very very small town Kaveripattam. In the middle of the town I saw a small board, ( I almost missed this), pointing towards Hogenekkal 72 Km. At this point I was though about turning back, because 72 Km on that road was a crazy idea. It was already close to 1 pm and I had to go home before night as well.
Still I thought I have come so far, lets check out this road as well. After a few kms I was essentially in the middle of nowhere. It was a one lane road, with enough bumps to make going past 40-50 kmph impossible. Both sides of the road there was just greenrey and hills, and I would encounter just an occasional hut and not a signboard in English!. After a while I decided to call up someone and try to figure out where I was. The signal wasnt great but luckily managed to call up Ashok ( the call disconnected gazillion times in 15-20 minutes). Asked him to open a map, told him how I got to where I was and somehow he figured out that I wasnt too far off the course. ( I still cant find the road I was on in google maps!) He gave me some directions and names of villages I might encounter... Palacode and Pennagram. While redialling Ashok's number for the nth time I had also managed to stop a taxi going in the opposite direction. Luckily the driver knew Hindi. He also gave me the directions( but the distances he told me were way of the mark).
And I again continued my journey, and after about 10 kms reached a T- Juncation on a bigger road. Asked couple of people, and found that one side leads to Hosur on NH7 and the other to Hogenekkal... phew! The drive to Hogenekkal was easy from here on, there were sign boards every now and then and in English! The last few kms to Hogenekkal go through a forest reserve and hills, really green hills I must add, and also lots of monkeys.
Hogenekkal was kind of a disappointment, it too crowded with everyone (old men) getting a oil massage and bathing (sometihng I didnt want to see at all). The falls werent that great either, but were not so bad also. Also it was getting late, 3 pm now, and I still didnt know the way back very well. So I started back, asked a couple of folks about the shorted way to Bangalore, they told me to go to Dharmapuri on NH7 (45 Km) and then follow NH 7 back to Bangalore. But I wanted to take the smaller road to Hosur, as I was hoping that this would be shorter. As I left Hogenekkal there were 3 bikes going in front of me, all three Karnataka registration, so I decided to follow them and see where they are going.
These guys, I assumed were going to Bangalore, headed towards Dharmapuri and I against my better judgement(at that time) took the smaller road to Hosur. This turned out to be a fantastic road. Narrow, winding, 2 lane road with minimum traffic. I even found a 'Panjabi Dhaba' on this road! This road is the best I have driven on till now. Total of 358 Kms in a day, and a nice experience! Getting back to office work now...
2 comments:
It's the journey that matters!
Absolutely Merlin..!!
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