Grand canyon tour.
Thurs Jan 30th
Head down to Heathrow on my bike. Nice sunny winters day…dry. Arrive , park and lock up bike and head in to BA counter only to be told my indian visa is no good and I cannot fly. So only thing for it was to sit down there and then and apply again via an agent at the cost of £174. That way I reasoned was the fastest. I had intended to get to the beginning of this tour a day early to give me time to relax on the beach as the start was in Goa. So I had a day in hand. The agent’s service was for “super rush”. This meant 36 hours. ….or earlier. I said to them that my only recourse was to sit and wait in the airport. I was not heading back to Norfolk. I let one of the group know what had happened. The staff at the airport were rather amused when I tried to get a photo of myself for the visa by sitting on the ground to try and get a plain background ie the chair seat. They pointed to another spot where I could sit on the floor more easily with a bigger plain background.
I hung around rather in shock about what had happened. The only thing to do was to head to son Sam who lived in Hampshire about an hour from the airport. Dismally went to unlock my bike, change back into bike gear and head off. From there I could get quickly back when visa came through. BA told me that there were 3 flights a day to Mumbai…8.30pm, around midnight and 4.30pm. The 36 hours was going to take me just after the midnight flight.
Friday Jan 31st
I hung around Sam’s house. They had all gone to work and school. Had a walk….and prayed optimistically for the visa to come through. Time was passing to catch the 4.30pm flight…but about 2pm the visa arrived via email. Fantastic. Rang BA to book on the 8.30pm flight.. then scrambled back into bike gear and headed back, to the airport. Straight to assistance desk and got my tickets. Relief! I would arrive just in time for the tour. I had a while to hang around at the airport but heh ho.
Sat Feb 1st
Flight went fine. Got about 2 hours sleep…normal for me as cannot sleep in a seat. Babies crying too.. Arrived in international terminal 2. Domestic flights went apparently from terminal 1. Bus ride round…did that to be told that this particular flight went from terminal 2. Quickly ran back to bus such that within 15 mins heading back to terminal 2. Would I now catch this next flight? I had about an hour to get through the airport…security etc. Asked if I could be sped up in the booking in queue which they kindly did. Through that and onwards and then knew I would be OK. Flight to Goa was one hour. Done. Then a taxi had to be found.Finally reached my destination…Baywatch resort near Colva. I get 10 mins from getting into my room before its off to the restaurant
for the evening meal. Its a walk along the beach. The group is huge …24 of us. Many have been with Alex the leader before.
Sun Feb 2nd
Breakfast at 7.30am and then a briefing at 9am. Lengthy and thorough. Get free pack of stuff etc. Now to meet at midday by the bikes . It is hot. I think it made 32c today. We all finally set off. Some on Himalayans and some on Bullets. Alex had given another briefing…very exact. We set off to ride 51kms in a circle. Some of the group were given the task of being cross roads keepers…to be in position to tell us all which way to go. We also had a map and a list of places we were to go through. Should not go wrong really.
One stop for a drink and back round to the hotel. I have swim in the sea and in the pool. Then relax before plodding along the beach to a restaurant for supper.
Back of Goan beach.
I have a red helmet.
Monday Feb 3rd
Real day at last where we leave here and go 150 kms southwards and end up at Palolem beach. We took a wandering route inland. Side roads on the whole. At each crossroads where we have to make a turn someone is there pointing to the right direction. Huge group on the move. Quite fast pace where conditions allow . Roads not as fraught as in the old days or at least not here. No lunch, just drink stop.
We two..Audrey and I …are the only ladies on our own . We get a room each and tonight got some of the best. Ramshackle place. The van with our suitcases takes a while to arrive so A and I swim in our tea shirts and pants while waiting. The sea is lovely. Men are right into their beers!! Eating later is a bit chaotic…no plates for a while etc. Breakfast tomorrow at 7am!
Tuesday Feb 4th
Longest day so far. Put everything back on bike. This being a tourist area you could not leave stuff as the tourists thieve….not the indians. Tonight we can leave stuff in pannier etc. The long day…210kms…included an off road section if we wanted…there was another way…though not many of us realised we had passed that point of no return and was on it before we could turn around. Confronted by a very steep and rocky hill and someone off on the corner , I braked wrong and dropped my bike. No problems and after that survived. It was pretty rocky up and down hill. Others had falls but nothing serious. Audrey came off twice as did others. Down to this skinny bridge…across a big river where we find others in the group who we did not know/realise were on the route. All of us bar one…called Kurt. Older…as old as me??? I wonder. Off we all go to lunch! Then there is about 40 kms more to do.
We end up in an hotel beside a river. …Starling River Resort. Relax, dinner quite late. This gives time for the main male contigent to get plastered on whisky and beer. I had some wine. !!
Wed Feb 5th
9am start. Today we head south again having gone inland yesterday. Its a day of bends…..250 kms or so . Lunch stop after about 160 kms. After a petrol stop I set off behind Alex the guide. Show him that I could follow… later I went near the back and in last section, 3 of us went slightly slower…better to look at the countryside. In common with other groups the pace is too fast to enjoy the views and country. Too much concentration is needed for the road to stay safe. We end up near Nittur in Paradise Wild hills resort.
Sugar cane juice being made.
Its a bit of a huge un cosy place. WiFi only downstairs in reception, and that pretty spasmodic. Bag van takes ages to arrive. We hang about whilst the hard men tackle some beer. The core seem to be about a dozen who have been with Alex before. They actually go sloping off to bed a touch early tonight…they surpassed themselves the night before with whisky and beer. Discover that I am second oldest. Kurt is 82.
My room has a nice balcony and I manage to take a couple of bird photos.
Sleeping policeman humps across the road were very frequent in villages.
Thurs Feb 6th
Quite a few kilometers to cover but no off road. …225 kms. One member,,Chris from Australia has taken to the van after hurting his ribs in 2 falls. Not such a huge bend day so easier. The hard core group is a little subdued..two heavy nights drinking has perhaps taken its toll. We travel through a wildlife park but no animals to be seen. Good road nevertheless. Good stops. End of day through town with some traffic and all of us getting hot and tired.
We go across a hanging bridge.
We do a bit of off roading.
The goats.
The pigs..
Hotel good, on the beach but with its own good swimming pool. Had a swim in the pool and then went down on the beach …the local indians were at play. Various boats being pushed into the waves etc. We took a walk on the floating bridge. It’s actually a walk way to a pontoon at the end. It was going up and down with the waves. Quite tricky to stand and walk. Three of us gave it a go.
Friday Feb 7th
Supposedly a short day of 104 kms. It was hot. Late start at 10am. But a bike or two got lost in traffic getting out of town and we waited in the sunshine getting hotter and hotter. Meant to arrive at a Catholic church by 22kms but only reached after 48kms. New roads in the last year had upset the route. Everyone gathered together by then so off to lunch not so far away and then onwards in pm. Pleasant road with small villages but nothing of huge note. We finish in a resort near Mangalore which was very nice end comfortable . Men thoroughly enjoyed the pool as I did too. Beer, drones and much fun. Early meal and early to bed.
Chai stop.
We attracted a lot of interest at times.
Sat Feb 8th
6.30am breakfast and off at 7am. Everyone punctual….very good. Its not too hot, fine roads, fair traffic. Huge leaves float down from the trees like it is autumn . We have drink stops, petrol stop and food stops. We look when we can at the countryside but its 100 % concentration on the road and traffic. It does remind me of my round the world trip and the india leg….batting on through traffic. I film with the insta360 but forgot take its cover off until after lunch. …annoying !! We stop in Davanagere. Smart hotel…
Sunday Feb 9th
This is our longest day..386kms or so. We begin at 7am. It is slightly misty, with that misty look unique to India. We begin with a bit of motorway. Already lorries are out but few cars. We go pretty much flat out on these bikes. Then it is a great rural road with very arable villages. Need to get the insta360 on. I usually start the day with it off.! If we stop to take a photo it is major job to catch up. …so I haven’t, but now learning to slow right down and can take a still with my phone camera when bike not shaking with rough road surface. One town is very busy…but I quite enjoy the bedlam and am practiced from other trips. Others are not so happy but nevertheless we all successfully fight our way through. Then a chai stop !
We have various stops on this tough day. The heat increases but if we keep moving we are okay. This is obviously a fertile area. Everyone, but especially women, are out on the fields. They are combining with slightly strange combines. I think it is chickpea? But some grain is laid out to dry in laybys. Straw is also laid out on the road to dry. Oxen pull carts and generally all is busy. We contend with endless sleeping policemen. They are very acute…we can take off if going to fast. They come in different shapes and sizes but all require slowing for. Lorries crawl over as do cars so we can nearly always overtake then as we do go faster…standing helps, so its get up, sit down, get up etc !!
In the end we arrive in a huge looking hotel on the edge of a town at Proddatur. But its rooms, large as they are, lacked things. Mine has no WiFi which was a bore…other rooms have.
This strange thing to the right had stone wheels. Its reeled out for religious celebrations.
Vidhya…Alex’s wife.
Mon Feb 10th
Up at 4.45am to get minibuses to the grand Indian canyon…to see sunrise there and perhaps miss Indian tourists who did start arriving as we thought about leaving. We had had the view point to ourselves. Its called Gandikota gorge at the point we went to. Lovely misty morning so sun appeared out of the mist. We perched on some rocks with a lovely view. Geoff got his drone out and took good photos.
The grand canyon at Gandikota, in Karnataka. Northwest of Chennai.
Indian chipmunk or Squirrel
Old “baths” or washing place near the canyon and at an old temple and fort site. Very little tourism from foreigners ..if any!
Back to hotel for day of rest after the breakfast that awaited us. I then sat around downstairs deleting videos and images off my phone …storage horribly full…and doing WiFi as did not work in bedroom . Then Chris asked if I would like a trip into town with them . Yes, please, and we got some tuktuk taxis and were off. Wandered around till Simon found the right spot…cafe. The streets were busy , dirty and hot! Had lunch , back to hotel, had a swim…good big pool… then relaxed before supper on the lawn again.
Tues Feb 11th
Bright and early again. Another 400kms day…well nearly! Not amazingly interesting. But, should note about the slate mining. Piles of bits from cutting slate beside the road. Lovely looking cut slate paving slabs. The indians do seem to make piles of things on waste ground. Piles of wood, of tin, of the slate, of rocks, stones etc . Many indians here are short in stature…you notice it when they come and talk to us or look at us when we have a drink stop . Rubbish is around but they seem to be trying…too many plastic bottles still . Because water has to be bottled for many to drink…plenty bottles.
Hot looking countryside…bit like Africa. Pineapple growing, bananas, plenty of different veg, fruit trees etc. It was all there. Road very bumpy in parts. We have our usual kind of stops for drinks. Petrol takes for ever with 25 bikes from same pump. Seems to be about £1 per litre. Not very cheap… Michael nearly hit a child as she ran across the road….but all okay. Getting to grips with names now. Taken me a week..!
We reach Chitradurga and a large hotel with no WiFi in the bedrooms…again!
Wed 12th Feb
We ride through Betal nut palms after leaving town via tiny crowded back streets. But road was pretty good traffic wise. The only bane being sleeping policeman and poor road surface that shook every bone in your body. You can stand up, sit down and repeat for every section but it’s tiring and as the day wears on it gets hotter and hotter. If we have to stop and wait in the sunshine as in petrol stations you get very sweaty indeed. Filling up takes ages with 24 plus motorcycles filling from one pump.
The highlight was another hanging bridge which we had to go 5 by 5 over. Then a lovely twisty road, narrow, but full of bumps and even a large bus tearing along the other way …ie towards us.!
We arrive about 5pm. …down by the coast. Quite late with no time for anything including a swim as the pool shut at 6pm. We ate along the beach as no alcohol in this smart hotel on a promontory with a huge Shiva next door and an enormous stupid type ostentatious tower.
Boys drank well this night.
Riding on the beach.
Thurs Feb 13th
7.30am breakfast and we are off afterwards. Another 300 kms day. Bit of traffic, but we are back in the nice woods of the western ghats. Windy road, some tight bends, bad surface in places, road works and attendant dirt patches and then some good surface. All mixed up during the day! We finally arrive…about 4pm in an Eco lodge resort in the woods. Bit faded but pool is not bad if a touch cold. The men get going on the beers in the pool, chucking the full cans in the water. We females had a swim and then left them to it for a bit.
Eco lodge has no power proper though plugs work just no main light. Nor loo paper ..I have been told to collect some leaves. Going to be interesting once the men realise. No wifi and no mobile reception. Plenty of monkeys…we are going to get a lie in. Tomorrow is a short last day…
The boys…grown men…surpass themselves tonight. Not the first time in these two weeks but they have got themselves very merry in whisky and beer.
Some of the group….Colin, Andy,Maureen,Nigel and Himanshu
Friday Feb 14th
This is a short day and only going to start at 11am. Breakfast was not great but we were kept amused by the monkeys. Off we go.. I have swapped my Bullet for the Himalayan as Allan wanted to try it out. I have ridden both so was not concerned. With only 90kms to go we had one chai stop. We had come down from the Western ghats and it was now much muggier and hotter. We were very sweaty and hot by the time we reached the hotel. Lots of hugs and relief we had all made it. I have a swim in the pool as it is quite a walk to the sea and then relax. In the evening it is an over a mile long walk to the restaurant along the beach . ..busy with many indians enjoying themselves . At the restaurant there was very noisy music , late food and then to my surprise Alex started karaoke singing. Apparently it went on late but a bunch of us caught a taxi back. …not wanting the long walk again. Vhydia, Alex’s wife, enjoys karaoke too!
Another hanging bridge…should be video at the end of us going across…if it loads..
Sugar cane.
Alex giving us instructions.
Sat Feb 15th
Late breakfast and a repack as I leave the hotel at 12.30. I get a taxi with David who is heading to another hotel for one night. Several of them went off to have a couple of days at the “secret beach” with Alex and Vhydia. A few more leave later tonight. There were no shops near the hotel…so a taxi in the heat maybe?? The airport..Dabolim..was a tedious affair but got through all the checks and onto a flight for Mumbai. There I will change terminals and head to an hotel for a few hours sleep before 2.30am flight to London.
Sunday Feb 16th
I reached the hotel successfully and slept a few hours. Then it was up at midnight and into the bedlam of Mumbai Airport in the middle of the night. It was teeming! Queued to get in, did not have to check in bag thank goodness so straight to the security queue, then the passport queue and finally the queue into the plane. Effectively queued for 2 hours. Not great. I was in a middle seat but each side quiet Indian ladies. Long flight …I slept a bit. Arrived on time at 7am on Sunday moning. When not in a hurry my bag came out onto the conveyor first ! Off to the bike, put on all warm clothes, liner in motorcycle trousers etc and set off into 4c but dry weather. About 30c less than 24 hours ago. Quick stop for petrol and home by 11am.
We had covered about 2,890kms in 12 days. Heat well in 30s by the afternoon.