One Classic Trip! Hassan-Belur-Halebeedu

It was Sunday, October 05. 

It was a one day trip, on a rented RE Classic 500. A fucking* amazing trip; the one that gave me the chills that even the Bungee jump couldn’t give.

Here’s what made the ride so amazing- 

- Between Belur and Halebeedu, the RE ran out of fuel. Some forest zone.
- Rode solo.
- Rode 5-6 hours on wet roads at night, while it was raining continuously.
- Learnt to manage the RE in roads, curvy roads, rugged roads, routes with no roads at all, bad roads and terrible roads.

Here’s what happened-

Left home at 5 30am. Sweet ride it was, to Hassan, took the route towards Belur deciding I’ll see the Shettihalli church on my way back.



Now this was the route I took- went past Hassan, to Belur, then to Halebeedu and back to Bangalore via Hassan.

But if ruins and architecture gives you the feels, you might lose yourself here. Proving which I saw people losing themselves and posing for photos with the sculpted background, and of course, selfies.



Belur only has one famous temple, they said- The Chennakesava Temple. 

Halebeedu has 3- The Hoysaleshwara temple, The Kedareshwara temple and the Jain Temples.



After spending some time, and clicking some photos I left for Halebeedu. 

The shortest route from Belur to Halebeedu, that Google Maps suggested was a treat to drive on my RE Classic, that I got my bad roads training certified. Incase you din’t get that, it was sarcastic; the roads were terrible. 

At Halebeedu, it started raining and I found a cozy little spot inside the temple, settled there since it was raining like it would never stop. After awhile I fell asleep inside the temple while it rained. I had no track of the time and neither did I feel the need to ckeck. With no clue as to how long I was asleep, I woke up to find the rain reducing to drizzles.

Inside one of the temples I found this charm sitting and chilling. One hoot and I took my camera out. Only to find it staring right at me.

Halebeedu’s major temple was crowded and the other 2 weren’t, as much.

It was from Halebeedu to Hassan, to that church now. Here is where the bike ran out of fuel. An old uncle helped me get a bottle of petrol from a station 3 kilometers away. He adviced me not to take off on my own again. He asked if he was right. I said yes. I lied. Because I din’t know Kannada and I couldn’t tell him I always ride solo, almost always. 

The route was between serene and peaceful villages and it was so quiet and calm that it got a bit creepy after a few kilometers. It looked like this along the way most of the time-

And this-

There were barely any cars or bikes, or even people along the way and I stopped to ask a couple of women in the villages if the church really existed. 

And it did! Sweet surprise it was. Beautiful place.

Did not go any closer because it felt weird. And there were 2 cars and 5-6 men sitting on the ground right outside the church. Clicked a little and took a U back to Hassan and Bangalore. 

Rode without turning back, rode to Hassan, rode towards Bangalore, 50 kms into the highway and it started raining. I stopped at a bus stand and found few fellow bikers. They talked about how the rain might go on for long and about taking a room for the night. They did book a hotel 20 kms from there. I did not know what to do, so I just rode. Protected the camera, and my head from the rain and kept riding. I am so proud of myself for that.

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It felt like time slowed down. 

There wasn’t one but too many factors- it was dark, the roads were wet, my jeans got heavier, the scarf that covered my mouth was wet, my glove-less hands got cold, the shoes were filled with water after a while, there was the risk of water entering my eyes (which had the lenses), also the risk of the bike stopping anywhere on the highway (the bike was already quite peppy). 

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I couldn’t keep thinking of all this so I tried to distract myself. Rewind-ed memories for a while, counted to 100 (atleast 20 times) for a while. I coined a few backup plans in the back of my mind incase anything would go wrong. I also promised I would get myself home by 12am, some frigging way. 

I got home at 12:15am and rested like there was no (office) tomorrow. 

After experiences like this, one might decide not to do something like this. I felt it too, but suffering and pain sometimes teach you the best lessons. Doesn’t mean I’ll wantedly do something like this again. But I shall ride again, very soon. 

Today when I gave him back, I cried. Tears accumulated, because he was with me when times were difficult, because he got me home, because I know how he works now. You were beautiful. I'll love you till I forget you.

And yes now I’m alive. Very alive!

*The feeling is so strong that I had to use this. Apologies if it offends you.