It was a Saturday evening when we suddenly decided to go to Nandi hills, a hill station about 60 kms from Bangalore. This is just one of those spontaneous decisions taken by us. There were 8 of us in all with 4 bikes. Two of my friends had got brand new Apache RTRs and they wanted to wander, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Kms- 0. It was at 9.30 am, Sunday that we finally set out on the trip (We planned to leave at 7). Full credit to Mr. Sankarsh for getting us late (Normally the award for LATE LATEEF is taken by Mr. Navjyot Singh)
Sitting behind Sankarsh meant that I could monitor his speed, dangerously whacking his head if he dared to go beyond 70 (Sure sure I am the Killjoy) . This got the speed freak among us (read Jaiprasad) really pissed off. Leave it to Jai to speed off in to a great distance, halt suddenly and wait for the slow coaches (Us) to catch up, all the while cribbing about our SUPER FAST SPEED. Man, he always rides as if his pants are on fire.. Prateek, his pillion, was holding on for dear life lest he fly away. The boy weighs a puny 36 kilos.
Kms- 50. We reach Shirdi Sai Baba temple, where we all went, took a quick darshan and came back (With the hope that a beseeching prayer to God would make our trip safer). The spiritual person in me would always come out in such places; though I'm agnostic otherwise :-))
We took the Nandi village route via Muddenahalli. Our ride to the top was, there's no other word for it- Thrilling!!! Somewhere along curve number 36, we all got off, stood on the ledge and started our photo session. We were in fact shocked to see the number of people that were actually visiting the place that day (Obviously, considering it was a Sunday).
Kms- 65. 
Once we parked our bikes and got inside the fort entrance, our primitive qualities (yeah, those of the monkeys) started to manifest. The chimps in all of us craved to swing from the branches, and thats just what we did. After all, who could deny those innate callings.
Once we parked our bikes and got inside the fort entrance, our primitive qualities (yeah, those of the monkeys) started to manifest. The chimps in all of us craved to swing from the branches, and thats just what we did. After all, who could deny those innate callings.
The climb to get to the top was tiring and all of us were gasping for breath.
ACTIVITIES
Kudre Metlu-Literally translates to 'Horse Steps' (Though I don't know how it's connected with a horse..) - One of our favourite spots in Nandi Hills. It's got one of the best views of the landscape and the horizon. Please make it a point to visit this place whenever you go there.
Rohit's Parents Calling...- Well, it's not usual for parents to join a bunch of chimps while they're on the route to rediscovering their apish tendencies, but the daring parents of Rohit took on the onerous task of serving us poor primates with lunch. Well, kudos to Rohit's mum for filling our hungry bellies with only the most delicious food that one could conjure from atop a mountain.
Tipu's Drop... Next stop, Tipu's drop. Legend has it that the Great Sultan Tipu had condemned prisoners pushed off this 600m cliff. Hmmm... made us want to push Amith off for gobbling large portions of our lunch. Silly locals thought they could outsmart us by venturing to extract cash from us by telling us "legends." Jai Prasad's brain was on super fast mode, churning out supposedly brilliant ideas to help avoid the zombie-like storytellers and their spooky stories. Well, the best it could come up with was to escape, which, naturally, we did.... it's not that we don't appreciate a good story. it's just that we were not too inclined to spend a fortune on some old guy's underrated imagination.
Arkavathi river... We expected a river... we got a pond, that was dried up, and served with a wholesome dollop of garbage and waste (Courtesy: Some irresponsible idiots. What do you do?) Summer is not exactly the right time to expect a river with water. well, even a tiny trickle failed to greet our expectant eyes. Somehow this lack simply urged Navjyot and Jai to somehow conjure water. Well, mission accomplished as they spouted wholesome waterfalls from their rather full bladders. So what if the fountains were rich in urea and other minerals? As usual, this exciting sight urged the vandals in us (except me, duh!!!!) to pelt each other with stones. Ah!!! what better way to relax than indulging in some good hooliganism.
Heading Home...- Time for us to get back. Time for us to race. We left after watching the sunset. Posed for a final photo shoot of all the bikes before hitting the highway.
I can euphorically say- though highly clichéd a statement- that the journey was more exciting than the destination.
The END
