Life is Beautiful !: Trip to Gomateshwara

Get up in the morning to the smell of coconut all around. Well, it can happen if you are visiting a friend whose father happens to be a Copra (dried coconut) trader.

The plan was simple. Ride out of my skin and make a round trip to Jog Falls, around 1000 kms. Just to test my stamina, speed and of course re-assure myself of how reliable my Thunderbird is. It was not to be.
Daya insisted that I visit his place and carry on from there. His place was on the way (which I later realized was not), he said and I could not say no. However, I am happy about staying at his place as I was treated to amazing hospitality at his home and got to see what village life really is.

I got back from office at around 4:30 PM and started packing all the essentials. Daya was waiting for me and we were off at around 5:15 PM. He suggested two routes, one Mysore-Srirangapatna-KR PET-CR
Patna-Arasikere and the other Mysore-Hasan-Arasikere. The latter seemed simple and faster to do, so I opted for it only to realize later that it was not as good a choice. For Hasan, we took SH-88 and
took a right turn after around 20 kms. This road I had already traveled on and it is smooth as a runway. After taking right for Hasan, I didn't find anything different. Somehow, the road infrastructure in South India is amazing! At least most of it as I later experienced.

It was cloudy right from morning and there was some drizzling too. And it got only worse as we headed towards Hasan. So, out came the Duck-Back and journey took a hit of 5 mins. We reached Hasan in around
1 ½ hrs. Now was the time to experience one of the worst roads I have ever ridden on. It was so bad that one could say there were roads in between pot holes, drum holes and couple of container holes!. It didn't end till we reached his village.

After a warm welcome and a cup of tea, I met Daya's father who was all too amused with me and was asking all sort of questions. I, under normal circumstances, would have taken offence to many of them. But, I thought, may be this is the way some people are and patiently answered all questions. It was quite interesting talking to him. He was taking care of the business that his father-in-law had setup, the Copra business. The business itself is quite simple. Have the ability to stock the coconut for 9 months and then sell it. His ability to stock coconut is quite good. With 5 or 6 houses (Daya didn't remember the count), they could stock all that was produced in their village of around 200 homes.

After rice, sambar and papad, I immediately retired in one of the many rooms. Pretty comfortable. After a good night sleep, I was woke up quite early to the smell of Coconut Oil (Don't remember correctly, but I think I had a dream about Mum oiling my head!). A nice cup of tea, and a snap of their house later,
I pushed off towards I-don't-know-where. I took directions for Belur, Halebeedu and Gomateshwara.

My first stop was for breakfast and tea. I brushed at the hotel and had hot, steaming idlis. Only later did I realize that I had forgotten to withdraw cash. I was lucky that I only had idli and 10 bucks I had just about covered it. The hotel manager gave directions towards the nearest ATM and Belur and Halebeedu. It seemed to be a drag and the road, he said may not be good. The weather too didn't look too promising. So, I decided that Gomateshwara would be the best bet as it was on the Mysore road.

Gomateshwara was a good experience. This is the place with the tallest monolith in the world, that of saint Jaina Gommata. It is absolutely worth a visit. Reaching there was not difficult as the roads were quite good and traffic scant. I could see the monolith from quite far away. Its quite a climb up to the temple. But let me tell you, it was worth every step of it. The view from top is amazing and the monolith itself is quite awesome. There are lot of foreigners visiting the place. This team of foreigners seemed to be hearing impaired as they were communicating in sign language. All in all, its' an amazing place and a Sunday well spent! Watch out this space for more of my weekend get aways! Next is Jog Falls