Sunday, 8 January 2017

Trip Name: A Brief visit to the Chola’s Architecture
Date: 31- Dec-16
Distance – 550km
Expense per person – Rs.315/- (Except Fuel)

We are a small team in our office for almost two years and all have a bike to ride for almost a year. We haven't got enough time to talk about or done a team ride yet. We all had done some Solo rides. This is vacation time so got plenty of time to chat in office which is mostly based on our bikes and rides. Somehow at last we came up with a plan on a day trip on year end which will test our riding ability. The date was set as 31-Dec-2016 as we need celebrate the New Year with our family.


Our Plan is to start from Maraimalai Nagar (4.30am) – Chengalpattu – Thindivanam – Vilupuram – Ulundurpet – Viruthachalam – Jayamkondan – Gangaikondacholapuram temple (8.30am) – Kattumannarkovil – Lalpet – Mathuranthaganallur – Thillai Natarajar Temple (11.30am) – Pichavaram Boating House (1.00pm) – Cuddalore – Pondicherry – Thindivanam – Chengalpattu – Maraimalai Nagar (8.30pm). Personally for me, these three paces I always wanted to go by riding.



The route was chosen to avoid the bad roads in the area and to maintain the time schedule. As planned we assemble on time and start our ride at 4.30am. We limited our speed within 80kmph due to low visibility and truckers on GST road.


Location: Ford India Pvt Ltd., MM Nagar   PC: Giri


Location: GST Road   PC: Thiru


Location: Viruthachalam   PC: Giri

The chilling winter made us to stop for a small coffee break after covering 75km. When the Sun comes up we had the early morning warmth and encouraged us to drive to reach our first destination Gangaikondacholapuram. Up to Ulundurpet we are on GST and road was good. From there it is 2 way and the road was not in condition so we had limit our speed around 50kmph. After Viruthachalam, the road condition was good and able to pick up some speed. At Jayamkondan, we had our breakfast around 7.30am and reached our first destination at 8.45pm with a little delay. This gave the hope to finish the rest of the Journey as planned.






Location: Gangaikondacholapuram   PC: Giri

We spent around 45minitues in the temple wondering the construction and worrying about the maintenance the temple.
After clicking few shots and some stretching we started our ride towards Thillai Natarajar temple. We particularly chose the Lalpet – Mathuranthaganallur road to ride through the banks of Veeranam Lake. The road was ‘OK’ and we stopped at some points to enjoy the scenic beauty of the lake and clicked some pictures. From there, the road was single way with many tight curves and it took us through many beautiful villages. Since we are having a very tight schedule to keep we are unable to enjoy the beautiful landscape we crossed.






Location: Veeranam Lake    PC: Giri

At 11.20am, we reached the second destination 10minuter earlier than we have planned. I am very surprised to see the number of foreigners visiting Thillai Natarajar Temple. After spending around 30min in the temple we start our journey. We had a Lunch at a hotel recommended by our Co Rider and continued our Journey.
After a short travel we reached our next destination, Pichavaram boat house at 2.00pm. There we booked for an hour ride in a boat. The time we spend boating in Mangrove forests is awesome. While boating we tried to row the boat but we are unable to row it continuously more than 10-15 times. On the boat, while enjoying the scenic beauty of the mangrove forests we had a nice chat with the rower. He had very good knowledge and able explain us about these forests. We had a fun and memorable hour in the boat and clicked some pictures.








Location: Mangrove forests.,Pichavaram boat house   PC: Giri

Around 3.30pm, we started our return journey through Pondicherry. The road up to Cuddalore is good and broad with moderate traffic. The Pondicherry road in Cuddalore is narrow and pathetic with traffic. After crossing the town, road condition improved. We crossed Pondicherry and reached Thindivanam bypass toll gate where we all inspected for carrying Liquor (which is usual at festive times I think). From there we got relieved from traffic and we are able to pick up speed. We had our evening snack before Thindivanam and continued our ride to home. We all reached our starting point at 9.00pm.


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