Nandi, Lead the Way

Nandi Hills is just outside Bangalore by about sixty kilometers. You see, sometimes you do not have to travel far to have a great motorcycle ride and see something spectacular. The view from Tipu's Drop, looking down from the mountain to the plateau, is something to see, even on a hazy day.



Eight kilometers to Nandi Hills


Jain Temple

On the way, we stopped at a Jain temple, on the outskirts of Bangalore. This temple has ceased construction for reasons the guards did not know, but it was under construction for about ten years and is used for active worship. It is built in the Rajasthan tradition and has extremely nice marble work for its temple flooring. No photos are to be taken within the outer wall, but a guard wanting money for coffee allowed me a couple in exchange for a few rupees.



Marble floor of the Jain temple




Inside the walls of the temple grounds


The Hills

Anjali took some photos from the back of the bike, which turned out great. Here is what we saw on the way up.



Starting to see some hills




Large hill in the distance




Looking up to Tipu Sultan's Drop


Picnic

That morning, we threw some toasted bread, cut cucumber and some spicy cashews into a bag as a snack to share on the way. Halfway up the winding roads leading to the top of the highest peak of Nandi Hills, we stopped to eat.



Stopping roadside for a snack


It was hard to capture just how crazily winding the roads are, but here are some photos of the traffic coming up and down the hill.



Bikes coming down from the peak




Slight bend in the road going up the hill


Let's Take It From The Top

Ah, the view.



View from Tipu Sultan's Drop




Looking down on a bend in the road


Monkey Business

One thing you will see a lot of on Nandi Hills are the monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys!



One monkey family




Rickshaw driver




Uninvited guest in a parked car


Getting Lost

Part of the fun of taking a trip without being completely sure where to go is when you get lost. The course we took home was not the reverse of our way to Nandi Hills, but we managed to find our way by stopping every so often and asking for directions. The ride there took just over one hour. The return took an extra hour, but we got in some added ride-time that way. The total journey gave us five hours away from home, a nice walk up many steps, an awesome view of the villages below the drop and a long bike ride. A great day, to be sure.

Domino's Pizza Motorcycle Club

Domino's Pizza Motorcycle Club, originally uploaded by s_w_ellis.

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Random flickr photo blog entry for October 3, 2009.

This is just a small section of the long line of motorcycles used for pizza delivery at a Domino's in Mumbai. In India, I have yet to see a delivery car, businesses using bikes instead.

Now, a bit more about pizza in India. I have not been to Domino's, but Pizza Hut is like a fine-dining restaurant: bone China plates, linen napkins and waiters which serve the pizza slice by slice. When I first entered a Pizza Hut, all I could think of was Demolition Man, where all the restaurants of the future are Taco Bell. Another big difference between pizza in the States and pizza in India is the elusive Parmesan cheese. Instead, pizza is served with ketchup. And finally, you don't have any of the usual American toppings because of the absence of beef.

Black Clouds of Exhaust

In California, every car has to get its exhaust analyzed to help keep the air clean. After spending the past nine months in India, I was sure that practice did not exist here. To my surprise, I had to take my motorcycle to a center the other day to get its emissions tested.

Emissions Testing Stand

This is all fine and well, but someone is not paying attention to reality. The buses and auto-rickshaws here spit out black gunk like crazy, and those things run all hours. I would be amazed if any one rickshaw in Bangalore could pass an emissions test. If a Whitefield bus backed up to the testing center, the attendant would die of asphyxiation! I doubt that motorcycle and car engines are the source of the majority of the air pollution.

The Best Ride I Never Had

Bike Ride to Kerala

A while back, some guys at the office came up with a plan for a group of us to ride our motorcycles to Wayanad, in the Indian state of Kerala. I decided not to go, then came back to going, then on the evening before leaving decided to ride in a car. Monsoon in Kerala is likely not the best time to be on the back of a bike for more than ten hours in one weekend. Anjali and I joined the bikers at a few points along the way, since we were all going in the same direction, and I snapped a couple pictures:

Just outside Mysore on Saturday

Lunch stop on Sunday

Blue Ginger
Since I had flip-flopped between going and not going on this trip, I lost the prime real estate for the resort where most people were staying. A search for an alternative lead me to Blue Ginger Resorts, and I was able to secure their Cascade Cottage, which overlooks a river and has a waterfall view.

To get to Blue Ginger, a 4x4 Jeep had to pick us up from the main road. We spent the next hour bouncing around for the four-kilometer ride up to the resort, at an elevation of more than four thousand feet above sea level. All the water we drank was a bad idea: we should have emptied our bladders before heading up the mountainside; painful.

Meals at Blue Ginger were not the best, but we had ghobi "65" with lunch on Saturday, which was really good. I had to ask what the sixty-five meant and have subsequently looked it up online.

Cascade Cottage

The Cascade Cottage

We stayed in the Cascade Cottage, which is located in the far back of the resort property, built over the river. The views out our windows were amazing:

Waterfall View

River View

Never a bad view, no matter which direction you looked out. In addition, the sounds of the water rushing was great to fall asleep to.

But Wait, There's More...
After coming back from lunch on that first day, we were discussing how great a memory staying in Wayanad is going to always be. We talked a bit about future memorable trips we plan to embark upon and how long into the future we see ourselves happily remembering the moment we were sharing. I asked Anjali if she would always want to recount memories of us as we were building new memories together, and when she said yes, I told her how much I wanted that as well. It was then I got down on one knee and presented her with a ring, asking her to marry me.

The Proposal Site

Relationship Status Change

The Happy Couple

Sunday meant a long ride back to Bangalore, but the time was filled with many phone calls, updating loved ones on the change in our relationship.

Engaged

The next steps have not really been considered, but we are engaged and happy. We are looking forward to our life together and that is really all that matters.

To read about what the other folks were doing, check out the experiences of Dagan and Bree or Michael. Oh, and more from Michael here.

Legal to Drive in India

The roads were not safe before, but they certainly are not safe now. I just received my drivers license for India.

My Karnataka License

I am licensed to drive two and four-wheeled vehicles anywhere in India. And, this does not expire until 2023! It turned out not to be too difficult to obtain either. I went to a driving school for five minutes and took a test in the license office to get my learners license. One month later, I drove less than one kilometer with a driving instructor. When he exited the car, a police officer stepped in, and we drove the exact same course. Total cost was less than fifty US dollars. Awesome!

No More Grapes to Steal

This past Sunday, Anjali and I headed out to the grape vineyard just outside Whitefield where we once sampled/stole some grapes. It was funny when we first went because we will willing to pay for whatever we tasted, but no common language existed between us and the people tending to the grapes (they only spoke Kannada). But, this time, there were no grapes. The harvest was over! Perhaps they were picked early in fear we might return?

Figuring out which grapes to taste

These should have been fed to me

Time to leave

Sunglasses on, ready to ride