Overview
Spice Village, Kottayam - Kumily Road, Thekkady, Kumily, Tamil Nadu 685509, India
Highlights
- Starts and ends in Kochi
- Enjoy a relaxed pace of riding
- Ride the Western Ghats, winding hill roads, through rainforest country
- A bulk of the ride is spent in the plantation country of India’s south
- Tarmac terrain with winding curves on fast-paced roads
- 9 nights accommodation
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive at Kochi - Transfer to Kumily (160 kilometers)
Arrive at the Kochi international airport and take a car transfer to the hill town of Kumily. Close to the Periyar National Park, (based on your arrival time), a safari can be organized. Alternatively, you can just relax and soak in the vibe of the guesthouse and its surrounding forests. Meet the Karma Yatri team and other fellow riders. A few drinks around the bonfire, a nice meal, and get set for the start of what is going be an epic road trip!
Day 2: Kumily - Munnar (85 to 95 kilometers)
Start your ride today, hitting the twisties as soon as you begin. It’s mountain roads on the good-quality tarmac with a fair amount of traffic, so be cautious at the start till you get a feel of the bike and a sense of the road. Dramatic scenery, lush forests, and plantations of rubber and spices (pepper and cardamom). Entering Munnar, you are in tea country so roadside breaks are accompanied by freshly brewed chai. Roads that snake through mountains covered in a uniform green of endless tea gardens. Overnight in a colonial bungalow converted to a guesthouse.
Day 3: Munnar Local (50 kilometers)
The tea capital of South India's Munnnar is dreamlike. Swirling mists and crisp mountain air carrying bird songs. The tea estates are owned by companies or cooperatives which ensure that roads are in fairly good condition. Endless views of rolling hills of green in various hues. Picture postcard moments of tea pickers, lush meadows with cows, and patches of impenetrable Shola rainforests. Cruise around on tarmac or shift on to off-road tracks as you ride through the inner plantation roads.
Day 4: Munnar - Kodaikannal (166 kilometers)
On what is considered to be one of the best motorcycling roads in the world, cross borders from Kerala to Tamil Nadu. Continue riding on roads that are a mix of everything you could dream of doing on a motorcycle, through a landscape that constantly competes for your attention. Smells of Eucalyptus oil, shops selling mixtures of Ayurveda herbs, artisanal chocolates, and loads of tropical fruit, about sums up the noisy main Kodaikanal town. The rest is scattered amidst ancient rainforests in small village settlements and the occasional colonial bungalow with elaborate gardens
Day 5: Kodaikanal - Ooty (251 kilometers)
Ride further into the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu. The road conditions are amazing and the riding experience stunning. Ooty was once known as the "Queen of Hill Stations". The town is only a faint memory with names such as Charing Cross and the Savoy Hotel in a crowded, traffic-congested town bursting at its seams. Fortunately, a few kilometers in any direction from the town center, the true charm is retained. Terraced fields of seasonal vegetables, endless valleys, patches of forest, and scattered plantations engulfed in a time warp.
Day 6: Ooty - Madikeri (252 kilometers)
Cross borders from Tamil Nadu into Karnataka and from the tea plantation to the epicenter of coffee in India. The roads continue to delight as the landscape transitions through the green spectrum interfused with bursts of floral color, twisting, serpentine tarmac through small villages and minor towns. Stop by at the town of Bylakuppe, spending time to experience the sounds and colors of Tibetan Buddhism, being one of the largest settlement of Tibetans in exile. A fairly long day on the road brings you to a traditional homestay in one of the privately-owned plantations.
Day 7: Fort Madikeri Local (50 kilometers)
A unique cultural heritage, owing to the warrior class ancestry, Coorg is grand, hospitable, generous, and loud. A short tour of the coffee plantation showing the various stages, from harvesting to processing the dry coffee bean. Ride on inner roads of a private estate which is a thrilling off-road experience. You'll ride through plantations that are a symbiotic construct of coffee bushes, tall timber trees, beetle-nut palms, and coffee vines. The distinction between tea and coffee cultivation is quite dramatic.
Day 8: Madikeri - Calicut (262 kilometers)
No trip that is themed around colonial influences can be complete without a mention of Vasco De Gama. So leave the Western Ghats and descend to the coast, towards the town that started the Sub-continent’s tryst with colonialism. The word Calico means "typically plain white or unbleached" fabric. The fabric is known to trace its roots back to the "City of Spices", Calicut. The city was once one of the great ports of the Malabar region for Indian spices and other items that made their way around the world.
Day 9: Calicut - Kochi (189 kilometers)
The ride today takes you further south from Calicut towards Fort Kochi on busy main roads and the occasional detours on picturesque roads along coastal or backwater communities. Harking back to the time of the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Jewish, and Chinese trader influence on the area, Fort Kochi’s vibe seemingly remains framed in time with relics of their architecture. The result is a motley combination of medieval Portugal, Holland, and an English village grafted onto the tropical Malabar Coast, topped off with tourist trappings. It is nonetheless a beautiful place to spend time walking ab
Day 10
Departure day
Ride Details
- Bike
- Rental bike with fuel included (Royal Enfield Standard 500 cc / Himalayan)
- Terrain
- A mix of Tarmac and Basic Off-roading
- Mileage
- 1475 kilometers / 917 miles
- Daily rides
- 50 - 262 kilometers / 31 - 163 miles
- Meals
- all breakfasts, lunches, dinners
What's included
- All entries and permits
- Motorcycle rental with fuel
- 9 nights accommodation
- Full board meals daily with beverages
- Airport transfers
- Back up support with Mechanic and spares
- First aid
Not included
- Airfare
- Alcohol and cigarettes
- Tips
- Personal shopping
- Personal equipment
- Camera equipment
- Medical insurance
Accommodation
You will stay for nine nights in various accommodations including hotels and boutique homestays. The start of the trip sets the tone for the rest of the journey and the end of the trip is an intimate moment to reflect, relish, and basically have one big party. The properties Karma Yatri uses at various locations which serve as start and endpoints of the itinerary are unique and carefully selected. During this tour, you will be accommodated in premium hotels and homestays at all stops. The properties combine the best in hospitality that the region has to offer, great food, and the ability for you all to behave like a group. Please note that although Karma Yatri provides blankets and duvets, i
Food
We encourage you to explore the local cuisine so that you can have a truly immersive experience. There is huge variety of food to choose from, a lot that is unique to the region we travel through. Since the basis of this circuit is food and beverage it's only apt that food becomes an integral part of the journey.
Getting There
We have carefully selected all our properties to reflect a sense of nostalgia. From plantation bunglows to old fashioned clubs (don't forget your dinner jacket) every place is unique and located in inspiring settings. [+](https://www.tripaneer.com/karma-yatri/10-day-the-planters-punch-guided-motorcycle-tour-in-kerala-tamil-nadu-and-karnataka# "Zoom in") [−](https://www.tripaneer.com/karma-yatri/10
