South India Sprint Motorcycle Ride
Neeraj Purohit
Every rider has a dream to ride at Leh, Ladakh, to explore the North side of India. I also have these rides in my bucket list but before that, I wanted to explore the southern part of India. South India has its own beauty which we can’t compare with the North.
Before South India Sprint ride I have visited South India couple of times exploring Hampi, Murudeshwar, Dandeli, Gokarna..all of them in Karnataka State. This time I wanted to cover most parts of Southern India in one go keeping the ride limited to 10 days.
I already had a plan in place which I shared with my friend, Aniket Deshmukh. He decided to join me for the ride & then PLAN WAS ON!
Day 1 – Destination: Mangalore
We started our ride from Pune at 4.30 am in the morning & reached Mangalore at 9.30 pm in the night. Since it was day one we were quite pumped up but it was a hell of a ride because of the bad road condition from Murudeshwar to Udupi. Our day one was closed with 770 km!! I made my own record of covering the max distance in a day.
Day 2 – Destination: Coimbatore
Mangalore was not our destination to explore it was just an overnight destination to take rest & travel further. So, we started our journey towards Coimbatore at 6.30 am in the morning. We chose to ride via Coorg & Ooty. The roads were lovely, there is greenery everywhere around & the best thing was passed through Bandipur Tiger Reserve where we saw peacocks & dears while traveling. We reached Coimbatore late in the night.
Day 3 – Visit Adiyogi Shiva Statue in Coimbatore & travel further to Kanyakumari
Before the beginning of our journey towards Kanyakumari, we visited the main attraction of Coimbatore, Adiyogi Shiva Statue. It is the largest bust sculpture in the world & has been recognized by Guinness World Records. It is in Tamil Nadu state, Coimbatore.
After visiting Adiyogi Statue we started our journey towards Kanyakumari & we reached there in the evening by 7.30 pm. Now we have reached the southernmost tip of India.
Day 4 – Exploring Kanyakumari & Travel Further to Rameswaram
We woke up early morning to see the beautiful sunrise from the southernmost tip of India. We also saw Tri-Sea Sangam, where Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal & Arabian sea meet. After seeing the sunrise, we had breakfast then we visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Thiruvalluvar Statue. Kanyakumari is the place where you would get see breath-taking views of The Indian Ocean.
In the afternoon we started our journey towards Rameswaram it is only 250 km from Kanyakumari.
Day 5 In Rameswaram
We woke up early morning & started heading to Dhanushkodi – The Last Land of India. It is just 20kms from Rasmes. The road to Dhanushkodi is just awesome. Two sides sea, the road in the middle, high breeze blowing, sky on the top. We reached endpoint it is the last land of India & from there Sri Lanka is just 25kms away!!
Rameswaram has very much importance in Hindu mythology since it is a place where major events from Ramayana took place.
Places we visited –
Rameswaram Temple.
Ramar Patham Temple.
Pambam Bridge.
Dr. APJ Kalam Memorial
Dhanushkodi - The Last Land of India
Day 6 – Destination: Pondicherry
We started our journey towards Pondicherry in the morning & reached by early evening. It is approx. 350 km from Kanyakumari. We took the famous East Coast Road highway. It has super smooth tarmac & lovely surroundings while you travel.
After reaching Pondicherry we visited Auroville beach enjoyed sunset the sunset there.
Day 7 In Pondicherry
Pondicherry is the place where you can visit French Colonies without a French visa! Why go to France? We have it here in India. A city where you live French culture, from stunning architectures to beautiful beaches, tasty food & lovely people.
Places we visited –
French Colonies
Matrimandir, Auroville
Auroville Beach
Bharathi Park – Greek-Roman architecture.
Our Lady of Angels Church
Day 8 – Destination: Bangalore/Chitradurga
From this day our return journey towards Pune started. First, we had decided to take an overnight halt at Bangalore but later we decided to skip Bangalore & stop bit ahead so that we can skip the unnecessary traffic of the city and we would cover less distance on our last day. So, we halted at Chitradurga km ahead of Bangalore city.
Day 9 – Destination: Pune, Back to home.
This was the last day our ride, last time we were packing & loading our saddlebags on our bikes. It was an emotional day since because this was journey was going to end. For the last eight days were like Ride, Explore, Eat, Sleep & Repeat.
We started our journey at 6.30 in the morning towards Pune & reached at 7.30pm in the evening covering 650kms for our last day!!
About Rider :
Neeraj owns Bajaj Avenger 150 street. Riding for the last 5 years. Neeraj has done many rides across Pune, Maharashtra. So far I have traveled to Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu on my bike. My dream is to travel the whole of India on a motorcycle. My upcoming long ride plans are Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Golden Quadrilateral, Leh Ladakh, Spiti Valley.
Route / Map
Route:
Pune – Mangalore – Coimbatore – Kanyakumari – Rameswaram – Pondicherry – Bangalore (Chritradurga) - Pune.
Days:9
Distance covered – 4000kms approx.
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