Following a short transfer from the airport in Goa we'll meet you at our beach camp in Palolem. There’s time to chill and we spend a day getting our bearings before we synch’ watches on the beaches of south Goa. You get a chance to trial your motorcycle and get to grips with decompressors and that strange Bullet kick routine. We spend our first night on the beach at Palolem.
Day 2
Having landed in India, possibly for the first time, Day 2 is an acclimatisation day for our Riders. We'll relax at the beach and go for a short ride further north up the coast and explore several different beaches.
Day 3
It’s the first day of the ride and we’re heading south to the beaches of north Karnataka. It’s a gentle ride that gets us across the border and off the highway to the small but popular pilgrimage town of Gokarna with it’s giant Brahmin chariots. We stop for a bite to eat and to buy some comforts. We’re off to the beach to swim in the warm Arabian Sea. We night-stop at a cool restaurant and guest house right on the beach.
Day 4
Beach life aside for now, we’re heading south and inland our route taking us to the neck-craning sights of Jog Falls. In January reduced to a trickle but in the monsoon the falls turn into a rage of water across the whole edge of the plateau. Swimming in the clear, cool pools at the bottom of the waterfall is prohibited! But you'll need your swimmers for the beach!
Day 5
We ride through coffee plantations whose nearby towns sport the best of south Indian cuisine followed of course by excellent coffee. Hydro- projects slip past us, harnessing vast lakes of water, for power and irrigation purposes.
Day 6
We visit religious sites some of which are quite simply mind-blowingly huge. Works of devotion not seen in the western world for the past 1000 years. We’ll stay in forest and jungle retreats, cool places where we can relax after a hard and hot day’s ride. Good food, nice rooms, cool beer, while our mechanic beavers at checking and fixing our bikes.
Days 7 & 8
We take the by roads wherever we can, sometimes less well maintained, offer uncluttered routes right through the middle of jungles, along river valleys, away from the traffic. And just north of Ooty we hole up for two days. While we take it easy,our mechanic checks and adjusts, fills, cleans and oilsour bikes. Maintenance done, we can take local rides, jungle jeep rides in amongst the wildlife, always a winner! Check out the sights sounds and tastes in Ooty, before we climb up to and out beyond Ooty - the largest of South India’s hill stations, so large it has it’s own narrow guage railway.
Day 9
If the route is clear we take a testing route down from Ooty - through a landslide zone, but if it’s ride-able we’ll ride it. It takes us down through two National Parks, Mukurthi and Silent Valley, destination Kodai. Kodaikanal has a special charm amongst hill stations. It’s well preserved, well cared for and naturally offers respite from the intense heat of the pre monsoon months. In January it can be chilly, it even rains at times. And if you squint a bit, at times it can feel like an odd sort of English village. Though most of the old tea house style houses have crumbled, there are still interesting English cottage examples to be seen.
Day 10
A couple of days still to go before we leave the hills, the huge dam at Idduki and the wildlife sanctuary all around. Tea gardens at Munnar, from a distance a vast green velvet patchwork. Thekkady and the Periyar Wildlife sanctuary is our last halt before the coconut groves of Kerala.
Days 11 & 12
We’ll stay in the Kerala backwaters. It’s what you do in Kerala, so peaceful and green after the dry hills and scrubland of the interior. We’ll explore the industrious activities (read coconuts) of the freshwater locals and their lifestyle. If you eat a coconut in India it’s probably come from Kerala. We’ve two days to go and the ride to Varkala is sweet. The coast roads turns into a beautiful sway through coconut groves without end. There’ll be elephants too, working the groves until we pass through Kollam and head south on the last leg before home, the beach at Varkala.
Day 13 & 14
A day to rest, recouperate, reflect and review. Swim in the sea, fresh swordfish for dinner (if it takes your fancy) and couple of pints! You’ve ridden a large swathe of southern India, through villages, towns and cities. Along jungle roads, coast roads, hill roads, dirt roads, on a tough but forgiving motorcycle, India’s favourite the Royal Enfield Bullet!
Day 15
We’ll transfer you the last 50kms south to Tiruvanathapuram, by taxi – the first time I did it was an Ambassador with Air Con, fancy a bit of that to round off a fantastic Tour! Come Royal Enfield Touring with us for an adventure you never forget.
We visit religious sites some of which are quite simply mind- blowingly huge. Works of devotion not seen in the western world for the past 1000 years. We ride through coffee plantations whose nearby towns sport the best of south Indian cuisine followed of course by excellent coffee.
We’ll stay in jungle retreats, cool places where we relax after a tough hot day riding. Good food, nice rooms, cool beer... Meanwhile our mechanic works on the bikes, checking oiling, adjusting. Mysore will surprise you, we stay in a well kept art deco hotel, so close to the action we can walk to the best sights. The Devraj Market, it’s flowers and vegetables and fruit and spices a cacophony of scent and colour; enough to blow your mind! The Maharaja’s Palace which, if we’re lucky we’ll see lit up, with 10 million light bulbs!
...from here on it's beautiful riding country. Hill stations, quiet, jungle shrouded hill roads, until we reach the cool coconut clad backwaters down to the sea in Kerala. You’ve ridden a large swathe of southern India, through villages, towns and cities, along jungle, coast and hill roads, on India’s favourite the Royal Enfield Bullet!
Following a short transfer from the airport in Goa we'll meet you at our beach camp in Palolem. There’s time to chill and we spend a day getting our bearings before we synch’ watches on the beaches of south Goa. You get a chance to trial your motorcycle and get to grips with decompressors and that strange Bullet kick routine. We spend our first night on the beach at Palolem.
Day 2
Having landed in India, possibly for the first time, Day 2 is an acclimatisation day for our Riders. We'll relax at the beach and go for a short ride further north up the coast and explore several different beaches.
Day 3
It’s the first day of the ride and we’re heading south to the beaches of north Karnataka. It’s a gentle ride that gets us across the border and off the highway to the small but popular pilgrimage town of Gokarna with it’s giant Brahmin chariots. We stop for a bite to eat and to buy some comforts. We’re off to the beach to swim in the warm Arabian Sea. We night-stop at a cool restaurant and guest house right on the beach.
