When it comes to taking a break, every person has their own go to spot, their own escape pod. An escape pod that takes them, even if for a short period of time, away from all their worries and tight schedules. For some its food, for some its books, while for others it can be anything from plugging into music, taking a trek to the mountains or a calm evening at the beach or the country side. For me, most of the time its a ride on my "Night Fury", well...the machine's got to have a name!.
And thus came a long break and a reason to go to the "Headquarters of Pilgrimage tourism", Pathanamthitta. Roughly 250 Kms or a minimum 6hr journey from my place, I decided to take the beast out for a spin. I do have a few spare days in my hand and a few places to cover which was there in my bucket list for sometime now. And thus a long ride commences after a very long time.
The Colonial ages!
The irony is if you like going to places, most of us try to cover longer distance ones rather than covering the ones close by. The general mentality would be, "yeah...I'm here all the time, So I can do it anytime!" When I am writing this, about the 250+kms ride and all, there are still places near to me that I haven't seen yet. Not something to be proud of, I know! Thus, my first destination during this ride was to witness the colonial architectures at Fort Kochi, for this was once in the list of "I can visit this place any time" several years ago when I started my career with an MNC at Kochi. And finally reaching here after about 8 years is no less than a feat.
Another feat of the ride was covering the kuthiran tunnel, the first double barrel tunnel in Kerala in my bike. The road from Palakkad to Kochi is smooth, 4 lane with traffic building up as you get closer to the Queen of the Arabian sea. There was no big plans. Just a ride through the colonial streets of Fort Kochi, a lunch at any of the numerous cafe's and a walk along the shore. With the view of the massive chinese fishing nets raising their heads up high in the backwaters, I took my first stop at the teapot café in Fort Kochi. Well...the place has got "tea" in it and that's enough.
The narrow streets of fort Kochi reminded me of my visit to Pondicherry a few years back. Colonial style buildings on both sides of the streets, numerous cafes, seaside. After a sumptuous lunch, having a cup of tea and some pancakes and some wandering inside the café watching its antique collection, it was time to take a walk on the Fort Kochi beach. Evening would have been a better time, but it was a nice walk with the massive ships on one side and the vast Arabian sea on the other side. Well, that's my companion for the rest of my ride. A ride along the costal line of Arabian Sea!
The Venice of the east
A town with canals, backwaters, beaches, and lagoons, Alappuzha was described by George Curzon, Viceroy of India at the start of the 20th century, as the "Venice of the East." Next destination for the ride. Alappey was a long pending bucket list item, especially the house boat ride and the traditional sea food items. All of them are going to be strike off from the bucket list this time. With the vast Arabian sea on one side and the endless expanse of farm lands and backwaters on the other end, the 57km ride was a pleasant one, except for the bright sun on top. The often narrow and winding road took me to Alappuzha at around 4pm. Sun was about to set and the main canal was filled with many shikara boats ready to cruise into the back waters. A word of advice, everyone on the road can point you to a shikara they know, but make sure you sort out your package rate and inclusions (time of cruising) before boarding one as even the slightest change can end up in huge changes in the final rate.
And, while you are here, make sure not to miss the food. It was a long pending wish list item to try kakka (shell fish) and it was checked in this ride. A nice plate of kakka with tapioca and the ever favorite, a hot cup of tea, in a boat made into a restaurant. The setting sun and the vast backwaters of Alappey set the background and elevated the ambiance.
That marked the final checkpoint in the day's ride striking several wish list items and covering an amazing route.
Have you covered any less talked about riding routes? Do share in comments.
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