We ride our passion
It come as a no surprise when the playboy of our group ‘Mayank’ just casually asked me(Kailashyar) one day while playing badminton if I was interested to bike till Tada falls. Being a hardcore biker, a nod was passed of instantly. After my graduation I had not really made any long trips on my b.e.b.e (my bike ) hence I was hell bent that we somehow pull this trip off. A total of 6 persons had shown interest to join us on this trip. But the Sunday fever made just 3 of us turn up on the ‘D’ day (23rd August).
The plan was kick started by Vivek aka ‘Nature Baba’. A few things have got to be told about him. This guy is 100% adventure ready and just loves to keep visiting places. In nature he finds his solace. He also happened to be the only person in the gang who knew the route to TADA falls. As for Mayank, he is this guy with the ‘Duracell’ battery that keeps going on and on. A hardcore biker just like me, he believes that any time is ‘BIKING’ time. This guy just loves to throttle his bike to make sure that the only thing he leaves behind is dust for others to smell. The thirst for adventure and a passion for biking made our 3 worlds collide into one.
So what exactly did we bikers do and how exactly did a bike ride turn into an experience of our life time is this story all about and here it goes…..
To head to Tada falls one needs to take the route from Tidel park > IIT chennai (Gandhi Mandapam Rd) > Anna Salai > Chennai Central > Vyasarpadi > Pozhal > Panchetty > Puduvayal > Kavaraipettai (Take a left from NH5) > Tada. It being early in the morning we did not expect any major traffic and we made sure that we did not free our throttle within city limits. Since early days I have had a habit of never wearing a helmet as I felt it used to sap out the fun of driving. The helmet rule of Tamilnadu, ensured that I had a dummy helmet hanging on the bike namesake. But Vivek and Mayank forced me to wear the helmet for safety reasons (Reason: It’s always better being ‘Safe’ then being ‘Sorry’).
We made our way thru the National Highway - 5. The empty smooth roads were too good to let off without cruising at high speeds. Mayank had the most gala time among the three of us. He would zoom into nowhere in his ZMA leaving me and Vivek behind. The scenery just kept changing around us the entire trip. I love to drive at moderate speeds early morning, tending to enjoy the scenery and this is exactly what I did. On the way we decided to have our pit stop in a tea shop. Surrounding us were all truck drivers who usually ferry between states. To be frank enough, the tea tasted wonderfullllllll irrespective of the place. (Maybe due to the joy of riding).
PIT STOP: Tea break
From left: Mayank and Vivek
Mayank and myself
We reached the Kavaraipetti at around 10.30 in the morning. We decided to have our breakfast here. While I and Vivek gorged on puri and vada, Mayank ended up having idli. Ahem point to be noted: The place where we had our breakfast was the exact place where Vivek had food 2 years back when he visited Tada falls. Inside he was a bit upset that the shop owner could not recognize him.
Having finished our breakfast, we decided to stock up on our reserve materials. We ended up buying extra puris, idli (Parcel), water bottle, Pepsi, murruku and bourbon biscuit. From this point on it’s a matter of a 10 km ride only before we reached Tada Falls.
During this 10 km stretch is when we come across the temple. We decided to have our second pit stop here to just look at the temple. Vivek started firing his SLR trying to capture as many images as possible.
PIT STOP: Temple
Mayank and myself at the foreground and the temple at the back
A close up of the temple
We reached the base of Tada Falls at around 11 am. From here we decided to continue ahead in our bike. There was absolutely no road ahead from here on and we were driving our bike on mountain path filled with rocks. Actually it was more like climbing a steep mountain with our bikes. We rode on carefully at minimal speed. On the way the road divided into three, we took a wrong turn and ended up in a sand quarry area. There was absolutely no way ahead and we decided to trace our route back. Vivek ended up calling his friend for directions and we were again up and running.
The best part was, we were the only three people in the whole place. We could see absolutely no human presence in any directions (It was eerie as well). We rode on and on until we reached base camp. We parked our bikes there in fear whether we would find it in one piece, when we return. From here on to reach the waterfalls, the only way to go ahead was by trekking.
Finally a pit stop for US (Somewhere inside the jungle)
In sync with nature
The three of us never imagined in our life that we would get to trek such terrain here. This is what we people live for. The big boulders gave us an opportunity to test our trekking skills. We ended up climbing rocks, wading through water to reach a spot which Vivek had seen two years back. Though there are waterfalls at the base itself, Vivek egged me and Mayank to go on. He wanted to show us a very secret location which not many people knew of.
During our TREK:
Reaching out to god (Mayank)
All geared up (Vivek)
The path to attain nirvana
The lush greenery and calmness
The terrain around us
Mayank trying to climb a rock.
Note: Vivek had to remove all the earthworms on the rock for Mayank’s sake. (Mayank misunderstood the earthworms for blood sucking leeches!!!!!! )
Finally making it!!!(The spot for which Vivek made us work so hard)
Close up view of the pool
We reached the pool at around 1 pm. On our way we realized what we miss in our lives staying at cities. All we could hear there was divine serenity. The chirping of birds, monkeys crackling out at each other and the sway of trees due to the wind.
Oh yes there are lot of monkeys around here (The real ones and not the three of us ).
Having had a team outing the previous day which involved swimming, I decided to give the pool a miss and sit back and enjoy the scenery. Vivek and Mayank jumped right into the pool and were having the blast of their life. I could not resist the clear water and decided to join in the fun and dived straight into the water. This pool is around 6 feet deep at the front and is really deep at the farther end. I found it out the hard way by actually swimming till the end to check out the depth.
So what’s different about the pool??? The water is fresher then the ‘Bisleri’ that we get here. As soon as I dived in, I could sense something nibbling my feet. It turned out to be small fishes which live there. These fishes tend to eat away dead tissues in your body. (I saw this somewhere in TV). Overall the sensation was great, who wouldn’t care for a free massage.
In the mean time, the mischievous monkeys somehow managed to smell the murruku in my bag and stealthily opened the zip and managed to take the entire bag of goodies that we had bought for snacks. Though Mayank managed to see this time, his reflexes were too slow and the monkeys managed to take the entire loot. This furor managed to bring in moneys from other areas as well. We were alarmed seeing the increase in their numbers. Finally we decided that it would be safe for us to get out the place. Hence we left the pool abruptly after 2 hours. Man I miss those murruku!!!!!.
Swallowing the view (Awestruck)
Vivek and myself swimming in the best ever natural pool god has ever created
THE RETURN JOURNEY:
The return journey was really fast. Though climbing up was difficult, getting down was easier. The three of us were leaping rocks and were getting down rather fast. While we were getting down, we noticed people trickling in. No one was daring to climb any of the rocks and settled to stay at the base. On the way down we remembered that we still had our idli and puri parcel. (Guess monkeys don’t like puris and idli). So we found a wonderful scenic spot to have our lunch.
Check this out!!!
Breathtaking Scenery
For the Snaps. (The place where we had lunch)
Can you see the satisfaction in his face?????
Roaring to go!!!!!!! (Yep tats my b.e.b.e pronounced as babe)
The BIKERZZ at base camp.
Somewhere in the highway during pit stop.
The picture says it ‘ALL’ (In search of new horizons)
We left ‘Base Camp’ at 2 pm and managed to reach Chennai by 5:30. On the way back we stopped at café coffee day at outskirts of Chennai and had snacks and ice creams. (Yep you heard it right, even bikers eat ice cream).
Overall the trip was great fun. We wanted to experience something new. We went in search of nothing but got everything. The place is a must visit for all adventure enthusiast. Just remember one thing the more you make yourself drive, the more you climb, the greater your chances to attain ‘Nirvana’!!!!!
“Leave behind footprints and take away only memories”
Writeups: Kailash
Photos: Vivek
Participants: Mayank, Vivek & Kailash
Bikes: Pulsar 150cc, ZMA 220cc & Hunk 150cc
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