Mangalore and the Art of Preparation

What I recently realised after making the fateful decision to brave the Indian monsoons and take a trip to Mangalore, is that you can never be too prepared for anything. But that's me talking like I'm 50. I'm never prepared; just enough to avoid the worst. Worst here is breaking a few bones, taking a few blows to the head, maybe even getting yourself killed if the road hates you that much. Well, I've never broken a bone. Not in my entire life. I don't know how, even when I fell, right knee first, on to the side of the NH17 a few minutes after crossing Karwar, with the weight of my bike, six kilos of baggage and sixty kilos of myself. My knee is lucky to have just three stitches stitching together whatever flesh still left inside after the jagged rocks cut it open like they were trying to chop tomatoes. Quite the sight.

Funny thing is, ('funny' being something I completely made up) I found out much later that it was such a deep cut. I had assumed (due to the fact that I was wearing a pair of jeans and then a raincoat, so there was no room for a peek) at the accident and for five hours and 250km afterwards that it was but a small scratch. But when I suddenly gave in to my curiosity and stretched the hole in my jeans enough to see the slimy soup inside, I panicked. Women giving birth would not understand the pain that overwhelmed me at the moment when I came to terms with the existence of an extra opening on my body.

So three stitches, a thousand more kilometres and five days later, here I am talking about being prepared. Well, you never can be. The only way to be completely prepared is to foresee the future and plan accordingly. Have you heard about the guy who sees himself breaking a bone a week in advance? Well, neither have I.

I think it's about time I invested in knee pads.

The view from the lighthouse at Suratkal. Miles and miles of a ravaging sea to the west and a million acres of green to the east.

Monks at Bylakuppe, where a Tibetan monastery stands with three gold plated statues of the Buddha and his kin.

Bylakuppe at its greenest.

A fountain/bird bath at the Bylakuppe monastery.

Abbey falls, near Madikeri.

The Mangalore coastline.

Thilak took me to his backyard river spot.

The 250cc Kawasaki Ninja I borrowed. Put a huge smile on my face.

On the way back to Pune, I stopped at Turtle Bay. This is a rare spot where you'll come across the sea on one side of the road and a river on the other. Try the bread omelette at one of the many shacks as well.

Riding 850km in a single day is pretty tasking. The 400km mark is when your body starts aching slightly. At 500km your back starts to feel uncomfortable and your butt just cannot take it anymore, even with frequent breaks. At 700km you feel exhausted and your focus slowing starts to limit itself to what is immediately in front of you on the road. 800km and if you haven't had a good night's sleep the night before, you're going to pay for it here. This is also the time when you've probably spent a good 12-15 hours on the bike and so much time spent concentrating takes its toll. If you find yourself with a flat tire in the middle of nowhere at this time, good luck.

Thankfully, I got bored and sleepy only 50km before I reached. Patience is a tough thing to find as the kilometres fly by slower and slower. Not to worry though, there are certain things that have made my life easier while on the road that I'll share:

I find listening to music an effective way to combat sleep. If you don't have noise cancellation headphones, it is much safer though because at night you need your ears on the road as well.

Naps help quite a bit. Just take a detour off the highway to find a nice quiet spot under a tree where there's no traffic and get some shut-eye for half an hour.

If you are as loony as I am, you'd try talking to yourself too.

Make sure you don't skip meals. Eat, but don't eat too much. Not eating right is the main reason for tiredness, at least for me it is.

Hydrate yourself. Even in the monsoons, water is very necessary. If you get dizzy on a bike at high speeds, the rest of the way is not going to be a very fun experience.

There, that should keep you alive for another few years more. Thank me later, I'm off to sleep.