BullAdi

Belum Caves

Tour: Chennai – Belum – Chennai
Dates: 30 & 31 of July 2005
Calculated distance – 350 Km (one way)
Proposed route: Chennai – TADA – SriKalahasti – Reniginta – Rajampet – Cuddapah – Erraguntla – Tadpatri – Belum.
Occasion: do not need one
The pack: Ranga, Srikanth, Shridhar (Pulsar), Arun, Loinel, Shaggy (Ram), Vijay, Raghu, Arul and I.
Flag off party: Solo, Jai, Sarangan, Anthony.
Starting point: Koembedu Bus Terminal, Chennai


The past couple of weeks have been really hectic and the anticipation of riding over the weekend was the only motivating factor. Left the bike at the RE workshop to fix the rubber fork covers and also to get it lubed up for the ride ahead. Went and bought the bungee chords with Dosai. Arul had warned us all to tank up the previous night and not cause any delay in the flag off. So teamed up with Vijay and Shaggy to visit the Shell bunk in Vadapalani, the previous evening.

30.08.2005
Shaggy, Lionel and I started off form the Velachery check post at 4.20AM and caught up with Arul on the way to the Ariharan Towers, Keombedu by 4.45 AM. The rest of the gang was already there and so were Jai, Solo, Sarangan (on his sexy RD350 might I add) and Anthony who came to see us off. Shridhar (Rocky’s friend) on his Pulsar was also there to ride with us. Ranga distributed the route maps to us and explained the proposed halts and regrouping points. It was decided that Arul and I were to lead while Ranga would be taking care of the sweeping. Solo, Jai and Sarangan decided to see us off till TADA. Thus decided, we started off with Ranga leading the pack with Jai and Solo in the back.
Take off time: 0500 hours

It was still dark and the bikes rolled out of the city gates. Rangs was wearing a reflector jacket and the duty of the rest was to keep up with the green and white stripes in the dark. There was no formation so to speak of, but then the roads were empty and the bikes were spread all over. The speed was set to 60kmph and we comfortably cruised through the breaking dawn. Jai would occassionaly race ahead for Solo to take snaps. This one time, every one was surprised to see Jai sitting backwards hanging on to the stay rods while Solo rode the bike. I am sure Jai must have captured some amazing snaps with his vantage position. Every time Solo accelerated, the inertia would make Jai kiss the number plate:-) We stopped over for a tea break; I guess every one was still too comfortable having just gotten out of bed and needed the morning chai. We started off immediately for we had a long distance to cover while the weather is still pleasant. Biding goodbye to our brothers who rode 70 odd km to see us of, we turned left towards TADA. The roads from TADA to Kalahasti were not particularly good but the scenic beauty was awesome. Stopped over to take some more snaps enroute.

The fun begins
Because of the bad roads and the unplanned stops, we lost sight of one another and got divided into groups. The leading pack had stopped over for the rest to catch up. We were all waiting for Arul and Raghu, and made up the time by lining the bikes and taking snaps against the hilly background. It was indeed a surprise to see the two bikes moving very slowly towards us, Raghu’s bike being towed by Arul. Try as we might, Raghu’s bike refused to start. After trying for about 20 minutes, we decided to let a mechanic look into it. Hence, started towards Kalahasti hoping to find a mechanic who can help us. Shridhar and Srkanth took off ahead of us as the scouting party, Ranga was legging Raghu’s bike, while Arul was leading our pack. Since we were already in Andhra and I can speak Telugu, I was the official translator for the ride. We managed to track down a Bullet mech named Gauz (You have to take a left from the main round about on the Kalahasti main road). People were very helpful in directing us to the mechanic’s shop, but the mechanic himself was not to be found. After about half hour the gentleman came back and with the knack of professional he is, rectified the problem in 10 minutes flat. Well, the problem itself was very minor – the connector to the ignition coils came loose and a gentle squeeze of the pliers did the trick – one kick start. Arul found some carrots from a nearby vegetable vendor and we munched on them like hungry rabbits.

The Lone wolf
Amidst all this hungama, we managed to loose Shaggy (aka Ramkumar S). He was running on a re-bored engine and was restricted to do no more than 60kmph. Either he was left behind or he overtook us at Kalahsati while we were hunting for Gauz bhai, but there he was waiting for us at the Renigunta crossing. It might sound simple but when one is riding alone the risk factor multiplies and it needs iron resolve to push ahead. He could very well have turned back home as we were still close to Chennai, but the true rider that he was, managed to coax his stubborn Bull till the next regroup point.
From experience, I have learnt to hydrate my self at every given chance. After refreshing ourselves we started on, hoping to make up for the lost time, but not before taking some snaps of Arul and Ranga in their camouflage outfits.
Hit some beautiful ghat section on the way with beautiful roads snaking through the green hills. Riding through the huge granite quarries felt like being in the movie “Captain Skywalker and the world of tomorrow” - every thing was huge and extraordinary, the hill, the pit, the machinery.
Then the railway track joined us next to the highway for about 20 odd km and the road would weave left and right intercepting the rails at the frequent crossings. Every now and then a train would pass by – some we overtook, others wizzed past us. But alas, as nostalgic as the site was, there was no “Sapnoon ki raaani” to blow my mouth organ at – all of them were goods trains. We again regrouped at the Rajampet and Cuddapah junctions.

Caman the enjaiment
After taking off form Cuddapah, we made nice progress doing good speeds. Then some thing caught my eye – the milestone said 150KM to Nellore (they were all written in Telegu – Yes, I can read too) and also none of the villages we had crossed were on our proposed route plan. We immediately pulled over and locals of Khajipeta informed us that we had taken the wrong turn at Cuddapah. We had two choices – either go back the 30Km or cut across to Kamlapuram.
Go back the same way –naah, we like obstacles (the literal ones) and adventure is what we are here for. A quote from F.R.I.E.N.D.S – “look down the barrel of a gun, pee into the wind”. That’s exactly what we did. Took the next left as instructed and cut through this small village – it resembled more like the place where RamGopal Verma would shoot his gangster chases. The lanes were wide enough to accommodate one bike at a time and a wrong turn would land the bike in someone’s living room (or a stinking stable). Then came the dirt track, fields, more mud, some rocks and dirt again. After making it throught the fields for about an hour, the sight of a tar road ahead was a much needed consolation. We soon joined the highway between Kamalapuram and Erraguntla. Raghu and I were running in reserve so we tanked up at the next bunk.

The Naxals
The road though good was a narrow strip of tar surrounded by the forest of thorn bushes occasionally replaced by sunflower fields. It was a nuisance where the locals took over half of the road to dry the sunflower seeds or manure. We were cruising not so comfortably because of the tiredness and fatigue. Then pops in this police inspector who was single handedly stopping all the vehicles and was doing his "routine" checkup. He wanted to know who we were and why we bothered to ride all the way from Chennai. Shridher and I tried to talk him into letting us go, when Ranga joined us. The cop almost stammered asking Ranga as to why he was wearing the camouflage overalls that are usually donned by naxals in these parts. We again spent good time explaining to him that it was a merely a riding outfit – then walks in a very irritated Arul with his tight kakhee tee and army cargos, his black ninja mask half open. If not a ghost, Arul sure put a fright into that cop. If any of us had pulled out a gun he’d have sure fainted :-D. He wanted us to come to the police station and get our ID’s submitted, but after a lot of cajoling he let us go by himself taking our names, addresses, numberplates and contact details.

Bring it on enjaiment
What follows next is probably the tale every one was told about. We had already covered nearly 400km so far and only three bikes were recently filled (Raghu, Shridhar and I). The rest were all running low on fuel and started to fall into reserve one after the other. To our dismay and disbelief, of the seven petrol bunks in that 70Km odd stretch, not a single one had petrol. I was in the front and was unaware of the situation at the back until Arul came up and informed us that 3 bikes went completely dry. Not knowing how far the next bunk is, Shridhar volunteered to scout for one, while I returned to Ranga and others. Raghu was towing Vijay, while I towed Ranga. Luckily for us, Tadpatri was just a couple of kilometers away and we all managed to fill our tanks.
Belum caves was further 30Km from Tadpatri and the instructions were simple – take a left from Tadpatri and another left at the cement factory. The roads were bad but that did not stop us from ripping.
As we approached, the cement factory got bigger and bigger and at its gates it was one of the biggest and sinister looking structures that I have ever seen. Some compared it to the Saron’s fort in the”Lord of the Rings”, I thought it looked more like the setup in the movie “Guns of Navarone” (1961) or Dr. Who’s hideout. Few more Km up the hill and the sight of BELUM CAVES written on the hill (more like HOLLYWOOD) was visible. We soon rolled into the Punnami guest house to be greeted by the RTMCer’s, the Pulsar gang from B’lore and sadda MadBull boys – Dosai and Bala.
Since it was already 5.30PM and the caves would be closed for the day. We immediately rushed off to see what we were there for.

The Belum caves
Originally discovered in 1854 by H.B.Foote, these subterranean passages were explored by the Department of archeology and Museums, followed by team of European speleologist led by Mr Gebaner, Belum Caves are the second largest natural caves in Indian subcontinent after Meghalaya Caves.
These underground caves are located on a flat agricultural field, have 3 well like cavities with the central one being the main entrance to the caves. The cave is entered by a staircase down a sinkhole to a level about 20m below ground. Most of the cave system is developed at this level, and the tour path is rather level from now on, following the main passage. A guide accompanied us through the tunnels and passages of this massive underground rocky cavity. Hundreds of years ago, an underground river used to flow through these caves – that explains the smooth and polished texture of the walls inside.

We were lead further down a narrow spiral stairway to what is believed to be ManasaSarover (one of the guided also called it PatalaGanga). Since it is neither, I can only explain it as the place where the path abruptly ends in a hole with water trickling from the over handing rocks. What lies beneath, how deep the water is and how far does it go is known to none. According to the guide it is more than 30 feet deep and the tunnel continue under water for some kilometers. No one dared to challenge him on that (even if we had scuba gear). This point forward can be better enjoyed on the Discovery channel.

After our cave visit, it was time to paardy with our cousins from RTMC. Every one had good time. The food was very good and at some time in the night we all hit the bed.


31.08.2005
5.30AM.
Borrowed the camera from Vijay P and took some early morning snaps of the bikes and the gaint Buddha. Not wanting delay any further, we started almost immediately stopping in Tadpatri for breakfast and fuel. It was ripping time and every one of us (including Shaggy) was doing 85-100kmph constantly. Ranga was leading and Dosai was tailing most of the time. It was indeed odd of Dosai to ask me to be the second sweep as he usually does a good job of it himself. Later I came to know that his bike was choking badly and was lugging. After hundred KM or so we all stopped for him to clean his air filter. Things were still bad for him, so he asked me to take over.
We had to stop at a railway crossing (not every train makes way for the bullet) and after taking some snaps, I took Vijay’s camera and slung it in my jacket. Sweeping is fun – there is no better a sight than to see your pack in a perfect formation. And I tried my best to capture the moments using the digicam. As a sweeper I would occasionally race ahead to inform the leader to slow down for pictures or like this one instance where a car was trying to over take us for a long time and none of the guys noticed it. Another incident where a kid on his bike with 3 pillions decided to join us on a joy ride, he almost got tangled with us when Dosai went after him and he finally moved over.
Stopped at Renigunta for lunch. Ranga, the ever adventurous soul suggested that why not we take a different route back home. Every one agreed, so instead of going back via Kalahasti we decided to take the Puttur – Tiruttani – Tiruvellore – Chennai. And what a good decision it proved to be. We had the best ride hence forth. Pleasant climate, Long curves, smooth bends and good roads - all the ingredients to display your biking talents. The undersides of my foot pegs speak for me. We went flat out, doing well above 90kmph through out. We only stopped once to hydrate ourselves during the 120Km. Reached Chennai by 4.45PM.

Post ride analysis:
Actual distance covered – 930 Km (up and down)
Route taken:
UP: Chennai – TADA – SriKalahasti – Reniginta – Rajampet – Cuddapah – Erraguntla – Tadpatri – Belum.
DOWN: Belum – Tadpatri - Erraguntla - Cuddapah – Rajampet – Renigunta - Puttur – Tiruttani – Tiruvellore – Chennai
The pack: Ranga, Srikanth, Arun, Loinel, Shaggy (Ram), Raghu, Vijay, Bala, Dosai and Aditya.

posted by Addy @ 5:24 PM 1 comments