week 2 log

Week 2 of Mataozm is over and as the trip takes its own shape, along with the luggage and our senses, here's the weekly log.

Select photos from week 2 on flickr

Day 8 – 1 may 2009
Kookal - Mannavur - Kodaikanal - Kookal
85 kms
Chilling, chilling, chilling
ATM trip to Kodai and back - sunset
Films – 48 Hours, Maharathi, Apocalypto

Day 9 – 2 may 2009
Kookal – kodaikanal – palani – pollachi - palakkad
White roads, NH209, SH156?
220km
chill morning, packed and left kookal. crowded! sathya sai baba had visited kodai on the first - so major crowds. decided against munnar route and stuck to quicker pollachi route. to the plains after 4 days. very warm. plains are nice to ride after the 'stressful' non stop hairpin ghats with all that luggage. checked into fancy hotel.



Day 10 – 3 may 2009
Palakkad – Trissur - Palakad
NH47
138km
reached trissur for trissur pooram around 10 –saw 15 temple elephants for some ceremony – got into the exhibition trap - saw foetuses and cirhossised? livers - walked around all sides of the circular temple - met an architect working in the conservation of the temple – got to go to the upper part of a gopuram. packed with tv and newspaper guys sprawled on the floor on top of each other trying to get the shots. left and went to Vinod's office - met Venus - night ride to palakad
Poorum photos on mataozm flickr

Day 11 – 4 may 2009
Palakad – Mannarkad – 10 km towards mukkali and back to mannarkad
68 km
Lazy morning at hotel – search for palakad breakfast – eat dosa! – internet café – slow photo upload – skip palakad fort – back to hotel- chill and leave for silent valley – unable to get thru to any hotels. – starts raining while climbing mukkali ghats – return to mannarkad – find lodge – cheapest room so far – 300 – door doesn’t latch properly. Film, smoke and pass out. Doesn't look like Silent valley is going to happen.

Day 12 - 5 may 2009
Mannarkad – mukkali – Silent valley national park (sairandhri) – mukkali- agali
91 km
Head to mukkali – call – no response/all full no point going to mukkali – alternate plan made, but by stroke of luck? turn left for mukkali information center (named after highest peak anegundi or something) – get permission and guide/jeep to go inside. Go on kacha road for 23 km to sairandhri – no road road – road been left as is to preserve natural aspects – ppl not allowed normally – vehicles enter only till 1 pm. Must come with previous booking. They have website. Silentvalley.gov.in. Guide – yesu 30 years exp – driver – subash – scared of elephants – elephants have had baby elephant and have been rampaging last few days. Cautious driving..

Reach sairandhi (name of panchali – britishers gave silent valley name coz no cicadas then.) in 1985 plant to build dam across kunti river, but rajiv Gandhi came and made it national park – 89 sq. kms core area,. Also has buffer area. Kunti river 20 kms no man touch. So 2^nd purest water on earth – medicinal also. Yesu made us pour out the bisleri and fill this water. went up watch tower and smoked a j.

Saw nilgiri langoor, giant malabari red squirrel, butterflies, medicinal plants, itch causing leaf plant and bark tree, markings of angry elephant tusks, hoof print of sambhar. Went to suspension bridge. Miss getting chased by elephants on return trip. Everyone at park para abt the elephants. Saw shatavari, aloe vera, chirali (strongest tree- king of forest trees), Eatai (thinner than bamboo – elephants fave food) – didn’t spot lion tailed macaq (only place on earth) but lots of whythey are here – fave food - karani trees – eaten when small and non thorny. Tumeric, kodom?
5 types of weather zones, 12 types of diff forest. 104 orchids including one that’s only found here on earth – orchid plants growing like moss everywhere – flower in oct- nov - .kunti did tapasya here. Pandava angles..
got route options from warden. Kottakara, muli, manju, ooty. 44 hair pin bends! Have to bribe.
returned to mukkali and then bike parked in parking lot with all luggage intact. Tea at mukkali and then decision on route – already 5 so stay at agali – ride along sunset. Govt guest house turned away coz of no vacancy. Stay at mkr lodge in goolikadavu 1 km away from agali.
200 bucks cheapest so far. No tv though. Dinner at thalaserry rest – veg while traveling is very limited. Got to go yogic in a week. Happy birthday to all the May people.
Happy areas – churches, mosques, fields. Different dreses across religions – muslims maxis, nighties – hindus - ? christians – typical like in comic books. overall kickass day and lots seen considering so little time spent and so much seen and learnt.

Silent Valley National Park photos on Flickr

Day 13 May 6, 2009 Wednesday
144 km
goolikadavu – kottathara – mully – manjoor – ooty
43 hairpins, 4 km of bad road before mully, 20 rs. Bribe/toll!
More hairpins towards upper bhavani – total around 63 hairpins done today.
Felt like private road. total of 20 vehicles in a 60 km stretch. Scaled ooty from 3 sides now – north, west and south. Mudumalai side most diff with really steep hairpins. Must stop in middle to allow engine to cool.
Ooty – small city with big crowds –
went to Botanical garden – houseful crowd, but good place.

Botanical garden photos on flickr

Photos. Snacks. Chocolates, aloe vera juice. Dasaprakash has disappeared.
Did maps at the lodge. Nice blue lines on a green country. More trees and green. More birds. Heat wave in Andhra-100 dead in orrisa! Cold in ooty. Skip dinner.

Day 14 May 7, 2009 Thursday
Ooty – Doddabetta Peak – Kotagiri - Coimbatore
SH15, NH67
102km

Woke up and stood in two lines to get on the toy train to coonoor. Built 100 years ago with the steepest gradient in Indian Railways - rising over 6000 ft (mettupalayam - coonoor stretch) Nice ‘never been on before’ road (Ooty-Kotagiri-Mettupalayam) through tea gardens. Elephant (big and baby) spotting, birds spotting, monkey watching. Now approached or descended the queen of hills - ooty from 5 sides :). As we head down, away from the nilgiri biosphere, the heat increases. from COLD to Warm in 80 kms. Speedometer conks off. have to visit mechanic, get bike insurance renewed in Coim. Stay at now usual lodge in Coim.

Next week

Around coimbatore and then maybe west or east - who knows. Om :)

week 1 logs

And so it begins.
chughun, ananya, and jedi set out to maintain their zen !

Week 1 photos on flickr

Day 1 – 24 april 2009
Bangalore – katpadi
230 km
NH7 to krishnagiri, NH47 to Katpadi
Meeting the parents
Drama ‘unwanted’ letter
Finding maal
Repacking - adding tent and helmet – chucking laptop - give to naz – meet at k giri
Chucking jeans but more clothes



Day 2 – 25 april 2009
Katpadi – Pallikonda- Gudiyatam – Pallikonda – Ambur – Pernambut – Venkatagiri Kota – Kolar – Bangarpet – Malur- Sarjapur – Bangalore
260 km
Meeting aunt at gudiyatam
Wedding gifts
Taking vgiri kota route to return to Bangalore to give laptop
Smoking up – ideas
Recording voice clips
Trip gets relaxed
Qt – most common trees and birds reference book – update on group
* Detachment vs immersion in senses
Stages in life – seek spirituality, answers to life purpose etc (Tibetan book of death)
Heat shimmer on road – same thing happening to heads
Portraits need to be taken
* Making Sense Trip
* route ideas – lakswadeep?
Head to ooty via mysore.
Too late – stay at bangalore
Puncture 2 km from sarjapur turnoff
Need to get new tyre and spare tube

Day 3 – 26 april 2009
Bangalore – Great Banyan Tree & Machinabele Lake – Mysore
200 km
SH17 to Mysore
Bike do-up before heading out– new front tire, bicycle locks, puncture kit
Bye-bye to Saurabh and Priya
J & A discovered that they have lost substantial amounts of ass over the last few months, and that it’s bad news for their tailbones
Banyaned place. so many banyans.
Watched goats feast and chill at machinabele lake. stay away from desolate areas :)
New food - Mallur Vada, Ragi Dosa
Stayed the night at a Lonely Planet ‘budget’ option – Dasaprakash, Gandhi Square, Mysore

Day 4 – 27 april 2009
Mysore – Bandipur – Masinagudi – Ooty – Pykara – Ooty – Coimbatore – Isha (reached late) – Coimbatore
340 km
NH212, NH67
36 hairpin bends uphill from masinadugi to ooty – v. v. steep. Nerve wrecking with the weight on the bike. Did not take easier 70 km route via gudalur.
ooty – another big town – just on the hills
fascinated with huge trees – emerald lakes - went to Pykara. nicer road!
strike on road before coonoor – women, from a local factory that had not paid workers, were protesting on the road and had stopped traffic
coonoor to metupalayam – 14 easy hairpins
more ideas for repacking
man helped way out of coimbatore by riding ahead for almost 7 kms to lead towards isha road.

Day 5 – 28 april 2009
coimbatore – pollachi-palani-kodaikanal-kookal
NH67, NH209, white roads
260km
Huge brunch – exiting coimbatore – lady in burqa gave us wrong directions and we went around in circles for a while
Hot – water stop – coconut water stop
Palani temple from far away
Ride up long but nice. People asking where we are coming from and then wishing us all the best
Nice light.
Kodai – 5.30pm
Shopping – chocolates (roasted almond, roasted cashew, rum & raisin), namkeen, eucalyptus oil, vicco toothpaste, cigarettes, paper, matches, honey, coconut oil
Met Das for the magic.
Dark. Ride to Kookal, slower, darker, almost bison – huge cows? Black cows? Cold – thumb freezing numb – right shoulder ache – bag from behind pushing forward and squashing balls – serious need to reorganize/repack
Yesterday queen of hills – today princess of hills
Road speed is 1/3 of usual. 300 kms taking toll.
Cigs and tea to be phased out. What replacement?
Cigs – pranayama – tea?
Happy to be in Kookal again, with Ravishankar, Suzie and Beauty and hot dinner

Day 6 – 29 april 2009
Kookal
Chilling
Eating lots
Stroll around the carrot/bean cauliflower fields
Films

Day 7 – 30 april 2009
Kookal - Mannavur- Kookal
Still chilling
Beautiful mushies with chocolate – lake, dragon flies, birds, J’s headstand on the edge of the water. Evening trip to Manavur. Films – Mad Max 2 & 3, Gulaal

Why mataozm?

a question that a lot of people have asked and not asked.

apart from the obvious answer that its a motorcycling trip where 2 people are trying to maintain the zen state. its like the definition of the highest yoga by swami sivananda - bear insult, bear injury. but on a more personal level - its about 2 people trying to make sense of their lives.

as for me, due to my new yogic influences and a trend thats been on for the last year, its also about detaching. true peace and bliss is supposed to come when one overcomes the body and mind -stating with the 5 sense. But mataozm - by nature - is a trip that will be deep end immersion into experiences from all 5 sense. in other words - we are making a sense trip.

so a new 'title' to our trip
Mataozm - the Making Sense trip - on both counts :)

Mataozm plan for Apr-May 2009 (as usual tentative)

Apr 25
Bangalore - Kolar Gold Fields - V.kota - Pernambut (jedi's grandma) - Katpadi (jedi's parents)
Apr 26
Katpadi-
Apr 27
Coimbatore - Isha Yoga Center(Ananya) | Coimbatore (Jedi)
Apr 28
Kookal (Jedi)
Apr 30
Coimbatore (jedi+ananya)
May 2
Trissur
May 3
Thrissur Puram - Elephant festival
May 8
Coimbatore - Isha YC (ananya + jedi?))
May 12
Coimbatore - Aluva/Nagercoil?/Madurai- Rameshwaram-Pondichery
May 20
Chennai
...

shoulder testing 1 2 3

disclaimer: am writing anything after a long time, and even i can see that the thoughts are fragmented and bahy but...

after fracturing my right shoulder on the 21st of dec 08, i was laid low with the arm in a sling . it helped that i was living the life of a bum then - i had nothing to do and nowhere to go. the pranayama kept my head up and made the Hampi trip happen. at some point sitting in a rocky crack on anjaneya parvat, mataozm got its basic shape. the plan A of 2007's drug fueled haze was resurfacing, although in a less extreme shape.

chughun, ananya, and I back on the road, without the numbing restrictions of evil time.
i was already jobless and ananya due by march end. but would the shoulder be ready? would the spirit be ready?

I had to postpone my yoga teacher training course (TTC) from Jan 09 to March 09, with the hope that the shoulder would be ready. The doctors had said it would take 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, they said good progress, it will actually take 12 weeks. 12 weeks made it March 21st and TTC started March 15th..

By april, we would have no house either. So i had to take Chughun along.
So on the 10th of March, I left with chughun and head out to Kerala via Katpadi, Madurai and finally Neyyar Dam.

Briefs

1. Vellore / Katpadi: is where my parents have retired to. Vellore (land of spears) is a really old city by the now dry river Palar and used to be a battleground - hence the land of spears. Is famous for the erm famous Christian Medical College (and Hospital) - CMC and the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT/VEC) - my engineering alma mater. It's mostly a dry shitty place extreme weather and no entertainment other than cinema halls and your own head.
   It's famous for 7 things - 1. a fort without a king, 2. a temple without a diety, 3. a river without water, 4. hills without trees, 5. women without beauty . don't remember 6 and 7. Anyway, met parents and visiting sister and brother in law. had a big 'family discussion' about ananya's and my illegal live-in and how its so terrible for them (which it is) . Vellore on Wikipedia
2. Madurai - I leave home and head south to Madurai on NH 7 - meet brother in law's brother in law (i think) who's a medical anthropologist (wow) and an adventurer. Madurai is like the london of India, with the Vaigai river bisectiing the city and is the oldest inhabited city in South India (pre 3BC!). Its the land of the Meenakshi -Amman temple, probably the most famous of south indian temples - ok maybe Tirupati also. NOTE: The Madurai railway station has (had? 2006? Joel's wedding trip data) high speed FREE Internet access, when airport, Chennai airport, Madurai airport and all other 'fancy places didn't! Jai BSNL. Madurai on Wikipedia
   
3. Trivandrum - reach Thenmalai by evening and slow down to take in the deep forests and old stone bridges and consequently have to travel along the windy Kerala hills towards the Sivananda Ashram - reach the general area around 9 p.m. and just go to Trivandrum (after calling the ashram and finding out its ok to come the next day) and a warm bed. The last time I had visited TVM was when I was little boy and had come to a church member's wedding at Chenganur. Faintly remember going to some church (surprise surprise!) or was that Adoor? Anyway, TVM was clean and lotsa nice colonial buildings - even the temples were different - rather unique. The churches are big and old. The mosques big and imposing. Guess its secular. I break the fast, and head off to Kovalam - might as well considering i'll be in the hills for a month and i'm just 16 kms away. Trivandrum on Wiki
   
4. Kovalam: This deserves a separate listing, coz it's a beach :D. But i was shocked. the last time i was here (Dec 2007), it had white sand. Now its crowded and the sand has turned black (in most palces) coz of the motor boats that take you deep sea to see the colored fish and what not. I guess the slowdown in Goa has pushed paying people down south. Checked out Groves, eves and lighthouse beaches (no difference, same stretch, with rocks in the middle) - become hmm hi-tech with red, green flags and whistle blowing lifeguards.
   
5. Neyyar Dam: Final destination - the Sivananda Dhanwantari Yoga Vedanta Ashram for my 28 day yoga teacher training course. Am glad I had already visited the Isha ashram in Coimbatore, so i know how an ashram is supposed to be. But still - 3 days is one thing and 28 days! It's a beautiful spot, nestled in the hills overlooking a green lake and a lion's park. Neyyar on Wiki. Every morning, during meditation, u'd get a jerk when the lions' would start roaring. The ashram is full of trees (ayurvedic - with labels) and a set routine, which initially irritating, but at the end, calming. Twice a week, we would go for silent walks - once evening and once morning to the lake and once to Kali para. Some walk photos Made some new and nice friends. got rid of the beard, lethargy, and agitation (yes, i had both) In and Out of the Ashram At some point, I called home and told them about the impending wedding with expected reactions. Every Friday, we would get the day off. During the 4 Fridays off, went to 1. Kovalam, Kanyakumari, 2. Varkala, Kovalam, Poovar, 3. Poovar, Kovalam, Varkala, 4. Kovalam
   
6. Yogi Siromani - It's the title u get when u pass the written and other tests during the TTCourse. It means jewel of the crown. Also registered for and got a spiritual name - got it for kicks, now its more fun. They apparently observe u and discuss in staff meetings ang then give u the name. I'm now Omkara (the sanskrit letter, a linga = energy body) Last days at the ashram.
   I have to head back to Bangalore for the paperwork wedding. i have 3 days. Plan is go to Kookal and pop, then bangalore. primary idea is to work the hills (the western ghats or sahyadris) from neyar dam to bangalore via idduki, munnar, Sathyamangalam (land of Verrapan), Dimbam, Kanakpura)
   
7. Idukki: It took a while to pack and say goodbyes, and the windy beautiful green hilly kerala roads plus the now 'sattvic' rides, where i don't cross even 60 kph - by 5 i'm near Idduki and settle down in a kerala tourism guesthouse at peermedu - 40 k from idduki. Intention is to score some gold, but recalling a conversation with sabir and a timely sms from him makes the higher mind come into play over the lower mind. Anyway settle down and fall sleep. 240 kms and the shoulder is acting up. Unsure if its the winding roads, or the 108 suryanamaskars done 2 days ago, or both. The next morning, head towards the forest and the dam. Have been passing atleast one dam or diversion something every 50 kms. The idduki dam finally is a kickass V shaped dam. felt like i was in an action film frame. The dam and other return trip photos After some confusion over whether to head to Thekkady (visited already during Kookal - Periyar Wildlife sanctuary - munnar- bangalore roadtrip 2 years ago), i head towards Munnar via the white roads (white roads are the little village roads on the map or not that mostly found after some persistent dialogue with the locals, and multiple dialogues at that - most locals have never even left a 30 km radius - or just travel by bus, and know only the main highways). More beauty and the slow ride helps.
   
8. Coimbatore : I eventually reach Coimbatore around 9. (another 300 kms only - for someone who has done 1072 kms in 20.5 hrs non stop - 300 kms feels like going down the road to a tea shop) - Stay at the hotel stayed when the shoulder was broken. in the plains after a month, and its warm and slightly sweaty.
   
9. Dimbam: Its on NH 209 and is a ghat with 27 hairpin bends. Nothing great, except that not all bends are labelled, so if ur chilling and enjoying the curves, one of the hairpins will spring up on u and u could fracture ur shoulder. felt rather silly for someone who's ridden the himalayas and both the highest motorable road (Khardung la 18,380 ft) and hihgest motorable pass (Marsimek la - 18634ft), but rode very very carefully.
   
10. Bangalore: reached around 8 pm. another 350+ km stretch. surreal ride through evening returning from work traffic. no emotional attachment. just another place. felt weird, so went to SLV and had a few sips of filter coffee. ananya has already reached bangalore airport from Calcutta. Go to vijay's house. end of a 2600 km trip.
11. Shoulder Status: Sore. stiff. again not sure if its surya namaskars or the ride. but bottom line is if i stick to 200-300 kms per day (on hilly terrain) - all should be ok. also sattvic ride is good fun. Plains are going to be scorching. but mataozm is a definite go.