Weekend @ Valparai

Hairpin bends, Viewpoints, Tea estates, Kids@Whispering falls resort,Sholayar dam

As always, we ended up planning & booking a day before the travel date. Since Ooty & Goa were completely booked, we decided on Valparai (a place not commercialized yet). A new place to see :-). Total distance from Bangalore to Valparai is about 450+ kms. So we planned to leave for Valparai on Thursday evening and stop over at Coimbatore- about 108kms from Valparai. Booked Comfort Hotel for Thursday night. Plan was to start by 5pm but we ended up starting at 7pm and reached Comfort Hotel, Coimbatore at about 1am. Good hospitality even at that hour of night and complimentary breakfast for all 4. That’s all we needed.

Friday morning post breakfast we started our drive towards Valparai. We were supposed to be booked at Whispering falls, Valpari through www.makemytrip.com. But Makemytrip folks goofed up and although had confirmed to us the booking, they had not intimated Whispering falls folks. After landing there at noon, we were stuck with no room to stay! When we reached out to Makemytrip team, they took close to 2.5 hrs to tell us that they were unable to find us any rooms and all they could get us is 1 star homestay which was about 2hrs drive away from where we were :-S Now what!! So we went back to Whispering Falls & the manager there- Nitin, helped us with finding another homestay very close to his place. Thanks to Nitin, we atleast had a room for night that day. By late evening we received a call from Nitin informing us that he would have a vacant room by next day. Happiness!!!! We could shift into his resort. Since we had lost most of our time, we decided do some sight seeing closeby, went towards Palakkad road…nice views, tea estate to see. And around the time of sunset went to Sholayar dam and sat there until sunset. On our way to Valparai (from Coimbatore), we had crossed some more view points, like the View point on 9^th hairpin bend (there are 40 hairpin bends totally), Aliyar dam and Tiger Valley View Waterfall.

Saturday morning we decided to drive down to Athirapally falls. You need to cross the Tamilnadu & Kerala checkpost and the catch is, the gates close at 6pm. So wherever you go, if you want to get back to your resort, ensure you touch the gates before 6pm. Tamilandu side of checkpost is friendly. Kerala side of checkpost, very professional. Do their thorough check on each vehicle. A small form gets filled by the inspector to check on what plastic items we are carrying, like the number of waterbottles, any plastic plates, glass bottles etc. Make sure you keep this form safe with you, as it gets checked near Athirapally falls entrance & while on return too. Kerala side of this road was beautiful. We had a long drive through full green forest, listening to sounds of cricket & birds. Our first stop was at Thottapara View point, then Vazhachhal falls & Sholayar Power. After about 1.5hrs of driving we realized we were running out of fuel. The tank was already showing ‘E’. Got to know from some locals that the only petrol bunk on this side of the road was near Athirapally falls, which was another 15-20kms away.  About 10kms away from Athirapally is this small town where we stopped over for lunch (Ponny’s hotel)- Appam & kadala curry. Not hot, but tasty. Bang opposite this place was Boating center. Since the clock was already hitting 2pm, we decided against boating and headed towards fuel & Athirapally falls. Fuel station was hardly 200mtrs away from falls entrance. It was a long walk down to Athirapally falls. We weren’t allowed to touch water there, but the sight was just beautiful. Reminded me of Jog falls in full flow. Getting back up was the difficult part in that hot sun. Kids enjoyed their bit of adventure of trekking..as they called it :-D. Once back up, the kids entered the water & played until it was time for us to return. If we had had some more time to spare, we would have seen Monkey falls too. But our aim was to be back at Kerala checkpost by 6pm, so we started back by 4pm.

Just when the kids were complaining that they had not seen any animal in this trip, we braked hard. A herd of elephants crossing the road, with one of them charging at a biker who was ahead of us. All vehicles came to a standstill. The bikers who were ahead dropped their bikes on the road and ran back towards us as the elephant came charging at them. Once safe, all of us just waited for the elephants to move away and started our drive back. We were lucky to have reached back the border by 6pm. Evening stay was pleasant at Whispering falls. Kids enjoyed playing in the small waterfall inside the resort.

Sunday morning, morning cup of tea, some photographs, breakfast & some chitchat and it was time for us to leave. After thanking Nitin, we started back from Valparai at 11am and reached back home at 9pm.

The winding well tarred roads with greenery all through in Valparai is worth the visit.

Sholayar Dam, Athirapally falls, Tea estates,Waterfall@Whispering falls, Silhouette of us, view from Ghat, Elephant attack,Windmills on the way

Angry Elephant

Selfie Time

Comfort Hotel, Coimbatore:: You will find Large clean bed to accommodate 4. AC room. Good hospitality. Complimentary breakfast.

Whispering falls, Valpari:: This place offers nice large non AC room with 2 double beds. There are just 7 rooms, so direct prior booking & confirmation would be better. Food charges extra. 

St.Josephs Homestay, Valparai:: This place has 2 large rooms with 3 double beds & a toilet. Good for large family or perfect for riders who want a place to rest & drive out. Basic accomodation.

ROAAARRRR of the TWELVE

Now what do you think that might be….12 Bikes lined up at Shri Krishna Inn, on the way to Yelagiri and that’s how it sounded. ROAAARRRR...FULL ON with ThROTLS team

ROOAAARRR- thats 10 of them- 2 gone refuelling

Expectation:: Good road, Greenery, Tenting, Relaxing, Weekend break

Result:: Good road, Greenery, Tenting, Weekend break, Monkeying, New friends. 12 Bikes including a Bikerni Bangalore member, 13 People, me on pillion with V…super fun!

Now this what happened. On a Saturday morning all of us met up at Shri Krishna Inn Krishnagiri (Next to McDonald) at about 9-9.30am. Idly vada, Khara bhaat, Coffee for Breakfast. Yummy hot crispy vada, so most of us went in for second round of vada. Tummy fueling done :-D. Some of us fueled up the bikes too.

Destination: Indus School of Leadership,Yelagiri

Next 160kms offered us wonderful roads & greenery through the ghat section. The last time I had been to Yelagiri was almost 8yrs ago and even then the roads were good. For those who love to ride, I think Hosur to Yelagiri is the best stretch. 

Mr. E led the way to Indus School of Leadership at Yelagiri. We were welcomed with a refreshing large glass of Lemon juice and then followed by a buffet lunch. Reminded me of home…some phulkas, sabji, dal, salad, biryani, kheer. Simplicity of the menu was the best part of food I guess. All of us had our fill and rested talking for about 1.5hrs. And then Mr. E announced that we head towards Discovery Course. This would have been the first of its kind for me. Never challenged myself with heights. Few treks that I have been to, have always been safe ones, never allowing me to explore if I had a fear of heights. But this one, by the looks of it looked challenging and it was too!!

Discovery Course

Three levels of difficulty and at the completion of 3^rd level we would be at a height of 50ft. Trainer Mr.Dangi briefed us on the security measures to be taken. 

Briefing session

Mr. E turned out to be part of the Facilitator team :-D and helped us with Do’s n Don’ts. First level of difficulty was more about getting accustomed to rules, ropes and getting comfortable with height. Second level was a challenge. Height & level of difficulty turned out to be much higher. One or two walked back down and decided they would be at their best behind the lens. 

@50ft making it look so easy

Must open this pic n zoom in to see

Now came the 3^rd level. G was the first one to complete the most difficult task on level 3 and zoom down on Zipline. He made it look too easy. I chose the path which looked easier and yet, got stuck half way since I couldn’t build up the courage to trust my hands to take my body weight…swing in the air and take a jump onto a shaky plank at 50ft high. After what I think was 15 mins of tension building, I decided, instead of jumping, I will walk the rope and complete my level 3. By hook or crook, all of us who had taken up level 3 reached the zipline :-D. Now that was real fun! I had my eyes closed for a second when I jumped from that height…but then next I found myself enjoying every bit of it…wanted the zipline to be longer :-D. 

Ziplining

A 2hr exercise made us realize how much strength each of us needs, to pull our body along, at those heights. I was glad to find out that fear of heights which my mum and all my aunts always talk about had not been passed onto me. Through the Discovery Course, discovered myself :-)

The Discovery Course is an experience in itself :-) Macho maano wont work :-P Have the guts, got the tactics, you will sail through. This place has been kept rustic, yet safe with good reliable staff. 

Upon coming down we were served hot Tea/ Coffee along with Aloo Bonda. Yummy again. Everyone literally hogged on it. 

After the break all of us moved to the tents. I chose to give company to R, since she was alone. Had a good time knowing more about her Bikerni team & her rides. I will get there someday I thought :-P

After freshening up, all of us met up at the bonfire. Some snacks & good music to go along with it followed by dinner and some singing. 

 

Next morning although all of us thought we wouldn’t be able to get up early, some of us were awake by 6.00am and enjoying the nature…searching for a pair of peacocks which was spotted, a large owl, lots of birds and a little Dog doing its duty of guarding the place. 7.00am tea n biscuits were served near the tents. Breakfast at 9.00am and saddle bags were loaded back on the bikes for the return. ROOOOAAARRR again :-). 

Ready to ride back

 

Breakfast Ride:: Asian Highway 43

Excited again to ride with ThROTLS team...on a breakfast ride.

V asked me yesterday if I wanted to join the ride..I was glad he asked, coz I wanted to experience and also know what they really did during these breakfast rides :-P.

Since there was another ride on saturday, it was only 3 from ThROTLS who went for this ride. So it was decided that we meet up near Hebbal flyover and then move together. Surprisingly at 6.00AM Bangalore was not that cold, I managed with a balaclava, helmet (pillion helmet rule being followed), Warm jacket, woolen gloves. Until Hebbal we had empty Bangalore roads and then is when I realized how many people are crazy about biking in the outskirts of Bangalore.

Got to see some IDIOTS who think biking means speeding (some without helmets too). But our team as usual..steady & safe drivers, enjoying the ride without speeding. I like it :)

Weather after Hebbal flyover was cold...cold enough to have my hands shivering and not allowing me to have my coffee & breakfast. The boys were well covered in their leather jackets and gloves and I guess after so many rides that they have been to...coldest being Leh-Ladakh, this cold would mean nothing to them. 

The choice for breakfast was between IPC (Paranthas) or Idly Vada..chose Idly over Paranthas this time and the ride was longer. 

On our way to the joint, got to see the Hot air balloon in air at Jakkur. Beautiful colors of the sun during Sunrise. If only I had my camera...

The Stop for breakfast was at Kamath which is on AH43, just before Chikkabellapura along with a large HP Petrol bunk.

So what did I learn?? Got to know that the boys make use of these breakfast rides to catch up with each other...which usually is difficult on a working day in Bangalore, considering the work timing, distance & the TRAFFIC.

With the riders