Monsoon Ride 2018 - Western Ghats for 5 Days

Updated: Mar 2, 2023

Ride covering the Western Ghats for 5 Days (14Aug - 18Aug2018)

Every Year, Monsoon always demands for a beautiful ride. When the ride is cards, the obvious choice of us is to hit the Karnataka Western Ghats which does not disappoint us in terms of experience and beauty. Obviously riding in the rain is tremendous experience and experience apart. Western Ghats never stops to amuse us even though we ride the same route multiple times. This year the ride was amazing and we had a terrific experience due to Landslides

It was time for us and without any opposition, all agreed to cover the scenic belt of Karnataka Western Ghats. As obvious this ride had lots of experiences and this year my brother Vijay joined us for the rides.

Here is the Route Covered.

Day 1 : Bangalore - Hassan

Day 2 : Hassan - Belur - Aldur - Thirthahalli _ Kodachadri

Day 3 : Kodachadri - Jog falls - Honnavar - Murudeshwar

Day 4 : Murudeshwar - Udupi - Kudremukh - Chickmagalur

Day 5 : Chickmagalur - Hassan - Bangalore

Team : Me on my Interceptor, Vijay on my Thunderbird & Ramesh Babu on his Electra.

Day 1 : It was Thursday, 14Aug2018. We decided to cover highways in the evening and hence started our journey on Thursday evening at 4.00PM. Ramesh Babu (Babu) was waiting for me in Hennur Junction, myself and Vijay joined him in the Junctions. Vijay was excited as this was his first ride exploring the western ghats in bike during monsoon.

We started our ride and it was scenic after Nelamangala. While riding on the way to Hassan ,it started raining heavily and we were riding in the rains which was amazing. We halted at Hassan on Day 1

The Route Map we had covered

Day 2: We started early in the morning and passed through Belur and Aldur. On the way to Aldur, we visited a dam which was huge and scenic. We continued our ride towards Thirthahalli and reached there around 1.00PM, we had a lunch in one of the small hotels in Thirthahalli. This was the best lunch I had and it was very tasty.

Post lunch we decided to hit to Kodachadri via hulikkal, this was the most scenic route. We stopped at multiple locations to enjoy the beauty of the western ghats and obviously many pictures. We reached Kodachadri around 5.00PM and halted in resort.

Some where near Hulikal !!

Vijay on the backdrop of the Dam !!

Babu with wonderful Scenery behind. Picture Perfect !!

On the way to Kodachadri

Another scenic route to Kodachadri

Day 3 : On this day our plan was to visit Kodachadri, JogFalls and hit Murudeshwar by evening. As planned we left to kodachadri in the morning and took a jeep to go to the mountain top. The jeep ride itself was a experience on its own and these drivers are extremely skilled to drive on those rough terrains. We reached Kodachadri Top and it was Bliss. Spent some 2 hours enjoying the scenic beauty of the mountains and reached down by around 11.00AM. We started riding towards JOG Falls and reached Jog at around 3.00PM. Jog was filled with clouds and when we reached there. these clouds up as if giving darshan of Jog Falls to us. It was amazing scene and we spent some time seeing the majestic jog falls. Finally we reached Murudeshwar in the evening and it was raining heaily. We halted in a hotel and it was a good ride on this day

On the way to Kodachadri Top

Mesmerising Kodachadri

Majestic Jog Falls

Day 4 : We visited the Murudeshwar temple in the morning and we started riding towards Udupi. In udupi we rode the 17Km road with River on oneside and sea on the other side, It was wonderful

Then we started riding towards Kudremukh, on the way we had a good lunch in Manipal. We crossed Kudremukh and near Kalasa there was a major landslide. The govt officials said the landslide would be cleared only next day morning and it was already 5.00PM. Local villager's suggested a narrow slush road which connects to Kottigehara road and they warned about slippery and dangerous roads. Since we did not have choice we decided to ride in that road and trust me guys it was one hell of ride. It was pitch dark, road full of slush and deep mountains down, my Interceptor did not have any grip. It was one scary ride as I was struggling due to no grip and its took us 2 hours to cover 8 Kms. Finally we reached Chikmagalur at around 10.00PM. It was a ride to remember.