Coast to Coast 2021 : Kanyakumari to Manamelkudi

I go live from Kanyakumari at around 7 am. It’s bright and sunny outside, giving the feel like it’s 10 am. I’d wake up around 5:30 am knowing that the day starts early. I am busy packing my stuff onto the bike and it’s a final goodbye to the hotel “Raja Palace”. I had a very comfortable stay here.

I plan to reach Rameshwaram today which as per my calculations is around 350km from here. It’s the same distance which I covered from Kochi to Kanyakumari yesterday. If I get there early, I will try to push forward. Finally, the Western coast of India ends and I begin my journey traveling the East coast now.

I start my day with my morning dose of South Indian chai. The time is 7 am.

I exit Kanyakumari town and immediately take the village roads. I am taken back by the beautiful scenery of palm and banana trees. The sun rays hit me from the gaps between trees. The roads and very narrow, barely a car can go. The weather is a bit cold due to the presence of a large number of trees and I enjoy my riding. It’s like I am riding through a large forest. Google helps me with navigation.

The palm trees give away and the I can now see many Ice apple trees around. Apart from that, not much variety of trees can be seen due to sandy soil. Overall the view looks brown everywhere and short thorny shrubs, the height of around 6 feet dot along the road. The traffic is barely seen and I cruise at the speed of 60-70kmph as the roads are good.

Around 10 am and just outside of Thiruchendur, I stop for breakfast, riding almost 100 km since morning. Language is a problem and I struggle communicating. At the first hotel I stop, they tell me that breakfast is not available. Just ahead, I get the 2nd one and they welcome me in.

Breakfast consists of Idli, Dosa, and Sambar all served together on a giant banana leaf. I get a feeling of being a true south Indian. I lose count of Idli while eating and they are served hot and they just melt the moment you put them inside your mouth.

I notice that my odo reading stands at 99,956 and exactly after 44kms I need to stop to change into a new odo. The current one, I plan to make a souvenir out of it when I reach back home. I leave the place and soon, after 5-6kms, stop for nature’s break at one of the petrol stations. As I start the bike, I notice some lightness on my shoulders. I come to know that I have left my laptop bag at the breakfast place itself. I run as quickly as I can.

I reach the place again and feel relaxed when I am given my bag. Thanks to the owner who kept it. He too was clueless as to who had left the bag in his hotel. If the bag would have gone missing, I would have had a heart attack then and there itself. I hop onto the bike again and head towards Thoothukudi, which is around 27 km.

The moment comes around 11:15 am when I complete the historic milestone of 1,00,000 km on my bike. I am delighted to the core and thank my bike for supporting and believing in me to date. It takes around 6 yrs to achieve my first 1 Lac milestone. I stop to take a photo of my odo and quickly change over to a new one which I carried since the beginning. The Sun is right above my head and changing the odo makes quite a challenge for me. The streams of sweat run all over my body.

I get some relief when the wind hits my chest around Noon when I am back on the road. Rameshwaram is still 170 km to go, with 6 more hours of riding left. There seems no improvement in the surroundings and the land is barren with short shrubs growing. At some places, I notice ‘salt’ farming being done. Entering the cities provides little relief with all the colorful houses to see making a stark contrast to the dull surroundings.

Around 2 hrs of driving and the landscape changes completely. The land is given away to lagoons dotting both sides. It makes a wonderful sight to see with Herons flying above them. At some places, I can even see Lotus plants in abundance with their beautiful flowers. A stack of windmills can also be seen, their blades rotating slowly. From here, Rameshwaram sits at 30 km.

I join the NH49 highway from the village road and now, it’s straight towards Rameshwaram. I can see Sea on both sides now and slowly I get the feeling of land converging into a single point ahead. It’s really a beautiful sight to see and a railway track runs parallel to the road on my left. I feel good that soon I will be ticking this place of my wishlist.

Out of the 12 Jyotirlingas, one is situated in Rameshwaram. I crossover into Rameshwaram from the beautifully done Pamban bridge. I see many people lined up on the sides of the road to click photographs. The blue of water just soothes your eyes and makes you want to look at it forever. The blue of the sky and the water matches here!

I get light traffic around the main temple but it is soon cleared as I head my way towards Dhanushkodi, the last point of India. The road can’t be more straightforward than this one. You can even drive with your eyes closed and still, you won’t lose the asphalt. The black of the road is contrasted with sandy color on both sides and that, in turn, is contrasted by the blue of the water. The sun shines brightly over the water giving it a feel of diamond sparkling.

At 3:30 pm, I hit the brakes as I can’t go forward. I arrive at the last point of India on the south side, Dhanushkodi. There is a pillar erected here I click a photograph. The place is fully crowded with people, mostly from Tamil Nadu. I find it hard to find decent parking. I stand on the edge and spend some minutes observing all around me. There’s just a waterbody on all my sides. Most of the people are playing on the shallow beach while some are sitting over the rocks.

It’s time to say goodbye as I capture everything from this place I can in my memory. The time is around 4 pm, and I can surely push forward. The only thing is I need to drive around 60km of the same route by which I came and then move ahead in my journey, which practically gives me only 1 hr of riding. I accept the fact.

I take a shortcut towards Devipattinam from Rameshwaram and I get into an offroad mood. A welcome change after riding on smooth roads since morning. It’s a test of my driving skills. Again I join the main highway heading upwards on the east coast.

Just before Thondi city, I stop again when I check the odo is not moving forward. I open all the setup again and find the at the odo cable as come loose from the main unit. I had not tightened it properly when I changed it in the first place in the afternoon. I lose some time there and the sun is about to set when I resume again.

I decide to ride till it gets dark and I am no longer able to ride. Riding in the night was not my type and a strict NO policy for this tour. After close to 45 minutes of riding, I decided to call it off and find myself standing in the small village of Manamelkudi. At first, finding a stay here looked difficult but soon my gaze hits on lodge which is right opposite the road from where I was standing. I cross the road. Luck favors me and I cross the road.

2 gentlemen are sitting on the chair outside the lodge entrance. I try to speak in Hindi and I get a reply back. At first, they are taken back by the look of me but as we indulge in conversation they ease a little and try to converse more, enquiring who I was and where I was going, and about the trip. The rooms are available and we settle a deal for 400 rs.

As per the instructions given to me by the Royal Enfield service team in Kochi, I am due for an oil change as work had been done on the engine. After I settle all my luggage in the room, I head out to find a workshop that can help me with an oil change. I am carrying the fresh oil with me, I just need a place where I can do it in a proper manner. Luck runs out as the lights in the village have gone. There is no option but to return back to the lodge.

Later, I head out again for my dinner after a much-needed bath. The hotel is not far away and I just reach in time as they are due to shut down. Menu options are very limited and I settle for 2 portions of Onion uttappas. The taste is good and I enjoy it.

Coming back to the room, I figure out where I could do the oil change on the bike and also do the calculation of the distance I would be covering tomorrow. Reaching Chennai seems an ideal choice as I have contacts there and which will eliminate the need for searching for a hotel. It’s a good night from a small village of Manamelkudi in coastal Tamil Nadu.