Tiruvannamalai, Gingee - A day's getaway!

27|04|09

This ride was planned by Vignesh and it was overdue for a log time. There were 5 riders for this ride initially but later we two ( Vignesh and myself) were the ones who were in for the ride. So it was a monday and we were just a week away from our final semester exams of our engineering. We planned to start as early as possible to avoid the heat and so did we . Started at 4:30 am and started riding towards the Golden Quadrilateral towards Kanchipuram. The plan was to go to Tiruvannamalai through Kanchipuram and return via Thindivanam after visiting the Gingee fort. The route that we took.



We were enjoying the early morning start in the GQ. We were doing speeds of 80-90kmph. It was a surprise that we didn't come across any cars in that road. The trucks and few buses were our companions. Overtaking the biggies were an easy task and I appreciate the truck drivers for respecting our puny little bikes and giving us way. I have to thank my bikes headlamps for that ;) . There was one truck which was doing speeds equal to us. I could see the fella in my rear view mirror and he was asking for way. We obliged to the mighty guy and let him go past us. When he overtook us , my speedo read 90kmph. Man that truck was fast!!! Soon we crossed Sriperambathur and in a few minutes the diversion towards Kanchipuram came. Kanchipuram was some 5kms off the diversion. From GQ now it was the single lane State Highways. Reached Kanchipuram and spotted a tea stall for our first break. We have done the 65 odd kms in under one hour. It was 5:20 when we stopped here. Had tea and took these pics.

Vignesh


Me


From here the route was through state highways SH1 till a place called Dusi and after Dusi had to take right on Sh5. The state highways were not in their best form. Roads were bumpy and potholes were plenty. But the beauty of scenic villages on the side made us comfortable inspite of bad roads. Stopped at this place for some pics.





Then started riding towards Dusi. This road was infested with trucks that carry sand. And here is the reason for that!

The long queue of trucks!



The X that had gone bad :P


Don't know if it was legal or not but look at the number of trucks that are waiting to collect sand from the riverbed. Now we knew where was that truck (which overtook us) was rushing to!


And few kms from here we again stopped for these sun rise pics!

Vignesh scrapping his knee on a bullock cart :P






After crossing Dusi we were looking for the right to take Sh5, and found it soon. The roads were not improving much. But it offered us a scenic route.

More pics!!!














We were riding towards a place called Arani. Soon we were stunned to this beautiful spot. This patch of land had these trees that were an awesome sight. Did some off roading to bring our bikes here for pics.






Me




Vignesh behind the woods





After a while we reached Arani. And here we have to take Sh1 towards Tiruvannamalai. And man we were surprised to see awesome roads ! They were butter smooth and newly laid roads. They were similar to GQ except that they were single laned. Was a bliss to ride on these roads after facing the bad roads for a while.

The super smooth SH1





It was 8:00am when we took these pics and decided to stop at the next town for breakfast. The next town was Polur. Found a decent hotel and had breakfast. Searched around for ATM and took some cash. Tiruvannamalai was some 30 kms away. Soon reached Tiruvannamalai and we were welcomed with the morning traffic. It was bearable, asked the way to the temple and soon reached the Arunachala Temple. Found parking space, parked the bikes, deposited our bag and helmets at a cloak room and went to the temple. I just love the architecture of this temple. Have been to this temple once in my P180. Took few snaps inside the temple.

Vignesh at Tiruvannamalai temple


Vignesh getting blessings from the temple elephant


Lord Ganesh


The temple




After offering our prayers at the temple we were out by around 11:00 am. Our plan was to take rest at outskirts of Tiruvannamalai before going to the Gingee Fort which was 30kms away. Rode to the path that goes around the hill ( they call it Girivalam , where devotees walk around the hill as a part of their pilgrimage) . This was a nice calm road with trees offering shade. Found a spot and stpped for a while. In the meanwhile I switched to the colored visor.

Me changing the visor




Thats us



Started from here after 20 mins and rode towards Gingee. Soon reached the place and saw the majestic forts. There are two forts here - the Raja's and Rajakari's (Rani) . The heat was taking a toll on us and we decided to visit just one fort. So of we went to the Rajakari's Fort as Raja's fort involved climbing a lot of steps! Parked our bikes and went inside , it was a wonderful place to visit but not in this climate! The fort was vast and managed to see the Gymnasium, Granary and the Elephant Pool.

Our bikes facing the Rajakari fort


Some history :)



The steps that lead to the Elephant pool


The elephant pool



The Gymnasium





Vignesh in the spot light!



Myself






The Granary


Steps leading to the top of the granary



Left the place and entered the Gingee town for our lunch. Stopped at a hotel and had good food. Relaxed for a while and decided to start our ride back. At around 2:00 PM we started our ride towards Chennai. We had to ride till Thindivanam which is 30 kms away to catch the NH45. 30 kms were covered soon and caught the NH45. Didn't stop anywhere due to the heat and proceeded to ride. Were doing speeds of 90-100kmph . We both were riding together and at one point was carried away by a Swift and I was in a pursuit with him ;) Was doing 120s with the swift in my rear view mirror for a while and soon realised I had left Vignesh behind. Slowed down and soon he came. Vignesh was pissed off as he wanted to take a pic and he could make me stop. I apologised him for the speed run :) and stopped for this pic. It was 3:00 pm when we took this pic.

Chennai, a 100kms more!


Then stopped at Mathuranthagam for this pic.



Last pics of the ride!
Vignesh zipping past !


As we were nearing the city the traffic increased and managed to reach home around 5:30 PM. It was an awesome ride for us before our exams ;) and as like other rides, will remember this one as a good memory :)


Ride Summary:

Riders and the rides : Vignesh in his RTR 160
Myself in my P220.

Total kms covered : 420kms

Route taken : Chennai-Kancheepuram-Arani-Polur-Tiruvannamalai-Gingee- Thindivanam-Chennai.