Bhadra Tiger Reserve

Planning unexpectedly has come in our blood I guess, as usual, we had just a few hours to get our phones and our battery charged. We left Bangalore around 6 P.M, the weekend rush slowed us down drastically. We reached our homestay around the 11:30 mark. Instead of resting, we talked our way till 1:30, later realising we still had one more day to go.

The day started with a bang when my bike's footrest was damaged, shifting gears posed a big problem especially on the mountain road. We fixed it up using ropes and tags to at least secure it from falling further. I now had to be gentle and precise with shifting gears. I was mostly stuck on the same gear for the most part. The twisties were getting harder and harder to counter, my leg started to ache. We pushed ourselves forward as we still had 400 km to cover that day. We searched for service centres but, as it was Sunday none of them was open.

After covering nearly 50 km like this, we came across a scenic place which made us forget the run-down experience that happened a few hours ago. We rested on the side and watched in silence how the fog covered the vast mountains. Later, we came across a small crossroad that leads us to a waterfall, a small one but the water there was so pristine. We filled our bottles because this was purer than Bisleri 😂.

Few kilometres down the road, there was a checkpoint where we had to submit our documents. It was the entrance to "Bhadra Tiger Reserve", they warned us not to stop or shout and in case you spot a tiger, don't provoke it, just let it pass. He opened the gate for us, this was the off-road that we craved a few hours ago. The last time they laid tar on that road was 25 years ago is what the officer told us. The bad roads made up for it by giving us the mountains ranges view. We were on the edge of the mountain range, this not only scared us but gave us that adrenaline push also. The thrill while riding down this road is immeasurable, I suggest all others to try it too. We needed a place to rest before the checkpoint, we came across this beautiful watchtower that closely resembled FAR CRY 3 game tower. Even though the rusted metals and height scared us, we kept going up and didn't stop. We decided to climb and experience how the officers few years did and my god, it was breathtaking for sure.

I even forgot I had to return the same day, I was still stuck in the same watchtower. I couldn't get that out of my head. Seeing my bike go through all these treacherous roads even after losing the gear lever, I thanked her for her hard work. This would be a special day in my travel diary.