7th December 2013
Destination: Nandi Hills
Bike: Royal Enfield Deserstorm 500
Rider : Me
KM clocked: 140
It had been a long week and i wanted a break, so decided to take my bull to nandi hills to witness the sunrise. I remember the last i had planned that with 3 friends, had resulted in 2 broken bikes, 2 bruised riders and sunrise somewhere on the highway :). we still had gone all the way , but it wasnt the same.This time i planned reach early and see the sun rise as i have heard its a beautiful sight
I was planning to leave early morning but it got very late by the time i reached home on friday night.Knowing myself , had i slept the sun would have rose while i am on bed. So i decided to stay up and leave early. My camera wasnt charged , called a friend and got his camera with some 30% battery. Geared up in my leather jackets,gloves and left the house around 1:30 am. The roads were not as empty as i had expected , thanks to the airport traffic. I joined the new airport road and was on my way. It was a chilly morning and despite the leather jacket, i was shivering. Stopped on the way to have tea and a smoke and while i was enjoying the tea i realized i am hungry. So i decided to take a pit stop at the airport, pick up a snack/coffee and head to Nandi hills around 5:00.
I was at the airport around 2:15 am. the ride so far had not been as pleasant as i had thought (and remembered my previous disastrous ride), the reason was numerous deviations because of the flyover construction. I wondered if it the flyover will ever get completed, only the the time will tell. Parked my bike and headed to coffee day.I was sitting there and being there didnt feel like it was so late at night or rather so early in the morning. When the rest of the city was sound asleep, this place was lively. I liked it there, just like i like the railway stations or the busy bus stands at night. There was a lady who seemed to have lost her luggage and was talking to authorities, there were the taxi guys charging at every person coming out of the airport , there was a group who i guessed had come to the airport just to have coffee , Apart from that there were people who were whiling away their time as they waited for their flight, there were people who had just arrived and were received by their family and friends, there were kids who like always were excited and running around. The whole place seemed so alive. After a while i got back to my coffee and brought out a book to read. The sleep had started to creep in and i wished i had slept for a bit before leaving. I put my head down, the sounds around me started to fade away and before i knew, i was asleep. it was 4:30 am when i got up and it was time to move on. Ordered another coffee for the road and headed out.
As I came out of the airport and headed towards Nandi hills, i could see many more riders probably heading to the same destination. I rode on maintaining 60-70 km/h looking through the signs on the road. Finally i started to see signs for Nandi hills, took a left when i saw one for it. I kept riding , the roads were smooth and weather pleasantly cold. As i was approaching the base, there was a 20 metres of road dug up and a rider along with pillion had fallen. A group of people had surrounded them, luckily no one was seriously injured. I would not blame them for the fall as the road was dug up for no apparent reason and no one would have expected that after a long stretch of smooth roads.Lesson learnt, always be prepared for unexpected. I had a first aid kit in my utility box, so i stopped the bike and offered it to them. As they had their friends with them, asked them to take care and left.
In no time, i was going up up the hill and my bullet went on with ease, I guess an advantage of having a powerful 500 cc machine! The sun had started to come up and i could see the view little more clearly, it was beautiful. i made my way to the top and parked my bike, and there were so many bikes already there and my bullet stood out. After the moment of pride, i proceeded to the ticket counter only to find a long queue. After a little wait, i took my ticket and headed towards the gate. There were many monkeys but they did not pay any attention to me as i had nothing to offer them, they were busy snatching food from other tourists.
Reached the top and it was a nice view though surrounded by cloud. I explored the place for a bit, there was an old temple , some view points , a park and a restaurant. The view from the fence was amazing with sun rising in horizon. There was a cold breeze which had numbed some of my senses and i was shivering. Clicked a few pictures of the view, temple and was on my way back. It was morning and i could see the beauty of the place much more clearly. Climbed down slowly, absorbing the view as i reached the base.
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