This post is about a trip many years ago. My memories about the trip started fainting, so I decided to put it in my blog. I was sitting in a small hotel room watching a 14 inches TV. I started feeling sleepy. But when I switched off the TV and laid on the bed, I couldn't sleep. Probably the bed of the 275 rupees per night room of the hotel was not so comfortable. At 2AM, I started recollecting my last 2 days.
It was an extended weekend (Friday off) probably in October 2011. I planned a trip with my flatmates Raj, Purab and Simi. But till Thursday night, the trip was not planned. Purab said we will leave in the morning, but nobody woke up. At lunch, Raj said we will leave in some time. But where? I got the gist that nobody is going anywhere. Angrily I told Raj at 2PM, I will leave by myself if noone leaves. He replied that its hot outside, we will leave by 5PM. By 3:30PM, I felt that Raj is not willing to go anywhere. I decided to go on a solo trip. So I took my bike keys and laptop bag (I don't know what for) and left.
I started off in anger. I took the nice road and drove on an average of 100kmph+ and reached Mysore road. After a few kilometer on Mysore road, I saw 3 college students on a scooty. I thought they might get caught by any traffic police. So I moved my bike ahead of them and stopped them. They thought I am police myself and stopped. When I offered them that I can have a pillion and follow the scooty till the destination. They were relieved to know that I was not a police. One of them sat behind me and I followed the scooty.
I and the boy behind me started talking. He told me that they were going to Raasta cafe and they were 16 people on 7 bikes. They were tripling on 2 bikes. When we reached Raasta cafe, I met all 16 of them. Raasta cafe is a hukka cafe on Mysore road, about 40km away from Bangalore. They asked me to join them. I hesitated initially, but when I saw them sleeping on the Mysore road for pictures, I agreed. All of them were friends of different ages. The oldest of them was 3 years younger than me and had just passed out of college. They offered me hukka and beers. I spent around an hour and a half with them. Then I decided to leave before it gets dark. I wanted to pay for them or atleast for myself but they did not let me do it. They asked me where was I heading. I opened Google Maps and checked for a destination. I found a huge lake Agara lake near Kollegal and told them I was going this place. They said they never heard of the lake and I better stay safe.
I left them at the Raasta cafe and moved towards the lake. Luckily I was not much high because of hukka or out because of beers. It got dark and I got hungry before I could take a diversion from Maddur. I had a burger in McDonalds and continued. It was 8PM and completely dark, even no street lights from when I took the diversion from Maddur. There were no shops on the way as well. I kept riding the bike in dark. On the way, I found a shop open. Even my phone got switched off by then. I got down for directions but nobody have ever heard of the Agara lake. A man asked me for a lift. I took him on the bike and continued on my way.
I tried to find where the man wanted to be dropped off but he did not understand English or Hindi. I assumed when his destination arrives he will say. We rode for around 20km, but he did not indicate to get dropped off. The road was single and pathetic. No street lights, no villages and no humans as well. I picked him from a places with hardly any person and was riding with him in places with hardly any person. I was feeling lost in translation. Suddenly he started shouting car car, pointing towards right. I thought there was a right turn and he saw some car coming and he wanted to go in the directions. I took a U-turn and came back. There was a car hit a tree. We went to the car and helped the old man inside the car out. In some time, there were many people who came to help the old man in accident. After helping the old man, I asked him to help me. He thought I will be asking for money, maybe he encountered some greedy people before. But I asked him to translate the destination of the person I gave lift to. They talked something in Kannada and one of the guy who came to help the old man said he is going in same direction and will come with us.
I with the man on one bike and the guy who was going in the same direction in another started riding together. The guy was riding at speed of 10kmph talking to me. He asked me where was I going. Funny thing was he lived in Kollegal but never heard of the Agara lake. He asked me where did I find this man behind me. I told him everything. He talked to the man in Kannada for some time and by then my shoulders had started paining, due to slow riding and laptop on my back. The guy asked the man to sit behind him. After an hour or more, guy dropped the man in a bus stop, telling him 4 hours later bus will be coming for his destination.
After dropping the man, the guy and I rode talking. He told me the man could have been a cheat, because the place he belonged, the place he lived, the place I picked him, the place he was coming from and the place he wanted to go, none of them were same and did not even logically fit. But I was convinced the man wasn't a cheat, else he would not have stopped me to help the old man. The guy told me that its already past midnight, I should take a hotel. He got me to a cheap hotel in Kollegal. He was a photographer and he told the hotel guy that I was a model. I even looked like one in long hair. This way I landed in this cheap hotel. I rode more than 200km that day. Thinking about the day, I slept off finally.
I got up in morning 5:45AM, got fresh, took a quick bath and left the hotel. I rode towards the B.R. Hills the actual destination, I wanted to go. It was cold and I rode without helmet to enjoy the breeze. The 100kms was a fun ride. I reached the B.R. Hills in 2 hours. When I reached the B.R. Hills village, first encountered dogs. 3 dogs barked at me. First I accelerated but then I stopped the bike to avoid skidding on the road. Dogs stopped barking and left. When I started the bike again, they came back and started barking again. I stopped again. This repeated 3 more times. Then finally I ran off and they kept barking. B.R. Hills mainly had a temple and nothing else. I took rest there and enquired places around and found out about M.M. Hills 100km to the other side of the Kollegal.
I rode towards Kollegal and gave a lift to a middle aged man to his home, from who I took the direction for M.M. Hills. On the way to this place, an insect entered my eyes and my eyes started burning. Just by guessing, I took the bike to the side of the road avoiding anyone hitting me from behind or I hitting the side. When I got my eyes cleared, I realised I would have fell off the road if I would have taken one more feet to left. I rode slow for sometime after that, then wore helmet and ran off as fast as possible. I reached M.M. Hills at 2PM. The place had a very huge temple crowded with devotees. I took a tour of the temple, had a cold drink and rode back for Kollegal. My pocket got empty and I knew I have to find an ATM in Kollegal. On the way to Kollegal, my shoulders started paining badly, due to the load of the laptop and there was no shade to rest. I took shelter below a leafless tree, when I found nothing. Hardly 5 minutes of rest and I started again. I reached Kollegal by 5PM.
On the way, using Google Maps, I searched for the Agara Lake as well. I was riding to and fro but couldn't find it. Even people in villages just 100 meters did not know about it. I parked my bike to see where the legendary Agara lake was, which even being so big noone know about it. And I got the reason, why nobody knew about the lake. Because there was hardly a drop of water in the lake. If it wasn't for Google Maps, I couldn't have known it was a lake in any season.
Now I had to decide whether I should stay in Kollegal for the night or continue to Bangalore. I had already rode 400km that day and Bangalore was 200km away. My shoulders were almost paralized. If I took rest in Kollegal and go to Bangalore the next day, I will get tired again and won't get rest at all. But if I continue to Bangalore, I will reach Bangalore the same day and will have complete Sunday for rest, no matter how tired I get. Finally I decided to continue to Bangalore. Maybe it wasn't a right decision, but I took the chances that I can make it to Bangalore alive.
On the way, a young college student asked me for lift. It was a fight with conscience, what we call in Hindi as Dharam Sankat. I was already tired of such a long ride. My shoulders already paining as hell, with laptop still on my back. The road ahead I knew was bad. If I took a pillion, I will surely be dead. He himself had a bag and I can't hand him that to wave off my load. But still, again I took the chances and gave him a lift. He wanted to go to Maddur, which was on my way. I rode in the bad road as fast as possible and dropped him at Maddur. Again I ran as fast as possible. But after sometime, I got exhausted and ran out of energy. Only 7kms away from Bangalore, I felt I would collapse. I saw a food shop on the left and I got down there.
It was 7PM and it had got dark. I was badly tired, hungry and in pain. I collapsed on a table outside the shop for sometime. Then I got up and asked the shop owner whether there was any medical shop, so that I could buy a pain killer. He directed me towards a medical shop. I went to the shop on foot, but it was closed. Then asked someone for another shop, but it was closed as well. I couldn't get rid of the pain, but I decided to get rid of the hunger. When I checked my wallet, I had no money. I forgot to check for an ATM. I search for ATM near the shop but couldn't find any. So I was outside a food shop or restaurant, but I had no money. Though I was still hungry and in pain, I got sufficient rest to start again.
I reached home by 8PM and I was hungry. My 3 flatmates decided to go out for dinner. We went to the parking. I thought Raj could carry me as Pillion and Purab can ride on my bike with his girlfriend Simi. Raj and Purab both used to ride my bike many times. But I don't know what happened that day. Even though I told Purab, I am exhausted and in pain after riding more than 600kms that day and more than 800kms in 2 days, he was not ready to ride any bike. Maybe there was some personal reason, that a good friend like Purab made me ride again. Simi sat behind me to the restaurant and back. I slept off immediately I fell on the bed and next morning I was completely fine. No pain and no tiredness. Even after 4 years, I still think though that solo trip was painful and tiring, it was worth an adventure. I drove 600kms in a day and 800kms in 2 days. I gave lifts to 4 different type of people.
