28th December 2019
Both the guys woke up fresh the next morning for their latest adventure towards Rameshwaram. As they started to embark on their bikes for the new day, they received their first challenge after loading the bikes- DJ’s Thunderbird was not starting. They noticed that there had been dew the previous night. DJ kept trying to work the self for about 15-20 minutes. Finally, the Thunderbird roared to life with its trademark ‘thunder’ and was ready for the day ahead to Pondicherry.
Special Mention- Skanda’s Dominar faced plenty of challenges on the way. In fact, it became a challenge in itself to prevent the bike from shutting off. It was later realized that the bike’s accelerator had been decreased, causing it to decelerate continuously.
The first duty for the guys was to tank up for the route ahead, and they did that. Having started at 6 am and having to do quite a bit of exercise right in the beginning, the men were hungry by about 8 am. At this time they were near a place called Kottai Kovil in Pattukottai, and they decided to stop for breakfast. The interesting aspect here was that this restaurant was on a road right alongside the Bay of Bengal. Their breakfast comprised of idli sambhar, vada, chutney, and filter coffee.
Reaching Rameshwaram
Roads so far had been very good except for small patches, ever since they started their journey from Pondicherry. As they came close to a four-point crossing near Ramnathpuram, they found routes towards different cities. The guys came and parked their bikes at Vasantham restaurant in Ramnathpuram, where they decided to have lunch at close to 12 p.m. Lunch for them comprised of veg dosa, fried rice, and Paneer Manchurian.
DJ and Skanda made it to Rameshwaram by about 2 p.m. There were problems of a different kind this time as the front office executive at the Sri Saravana hotel here claimed that they had no reception. The booking had already been confirmed when they were in Thanjavur, and they showed a mail for the same. After this, the manager was called and told them that other bookings had been accepted due to too many tourists. So DJ and Skanda had to pay INR 3000 more, to which they agreed (no hotels were available in the areas around as well).
Lunchtime and Dhanushkodi
All the action at the reception had made the two guys really hungry, and they found out about a Punjabi restaurant in the area. After the meal, they started to move towards Dhanushkodi by 3 pm. Both men were grinning from one end to the other while riding their bikes on the road from Rameshwaram to Dhanushkodi, with the sea on both sides. A lot of small villages were on the way, and they could smell the fish market around.
Before Dhanushkodi, DJ came to know about a temple on one side. However, both of them dropped the idea to go as there was a lot of water in the area.
The endpoint in Dhanushkodi is indicated with the help of a pillar. It was soon known that this pillar had been erected in memory of Dhanushkodi cyclone victims. So the guys took turns climbing on the footrests around the pillar for pictures. Originally they were the only ones who had parked their bikes along the pillar, but a couple of Sardars also parked their two bikes after seeing them there.
The Drone Drama
All the Tamilians and the other South Indians saw a drone in the air here but couldn’t understand where it was being flown from. So when the drone came down, a lot of them ran towards it together.
A big hullaballoo was created near the pillar, claiming that this place was out of bounds for drones largely due to smuggling cases.
However, they were kind enough to recognize both of them as tourists visiting here for the first time and decided not to press further.
Dhanushkodi- Aerial View
By 6 p.m., the guys went back to their hotel. They went to the terrace and noticed a temple roughly 50 meters away. Drone shots were taken with care not to go too close to the place of worship. Both of them took in the beautiful sea view from here. Once done, they came down to know that the temple’s gates opened for a short period at 7:30 pm.
DJ was very keen to go to the temple, but Skanda was feeling poofed. So it was the DJ who ended up visiting the place of worship. He took a note of INR 2000 with him to buy the Dakshniavardhi conch here, as well as for the temple ticket. This was followed up with yet another interesting turn of events.
At the Temple
DJ noticed that despite a crowd being present here, there was still mental peace. However, he faced a major language problem where the locals spoke nothing but Tamil. The ticket was for either a free or a paid visit. He saw many of the devotees lining up on the left, only to realize later that this was the line for the free visit.
Unfortunately, there was no information around to guide visitors here, and asking around was quite difficult. DJ suddenly saw a lot of people going for a line where the fee was INR 500. Seeing this line advancing fast, he switched but was sad to see that the gates were being closed just as he was about to approach the deity.
