This ride was made at the next day of ASTRA 2026 conference end. Initial plan was made with Aditya to go to Ponmudi as himself and others were brought rental bikes from the city. But, the weather started to show its face up.
I was awake and prepared as usual for the ride, it was raining already and I was with a mindset that it will settle before 6 AM. But, the rain was not stopping by the time. Aditya and his guys notified that there was some change of plan for them, they didn’t wanna go to Ponmudi in this climate. So, they decided to go to Thenmala. Then, I decided to go as per my plan.
There is an event comming up in the end of this month, Tour de Kanyakumari. The ride starts as Marthandam at 5:30 AM. I can’t reach there on time without going ahead and stay nearby. So, I was looking for PWD guest houses of Keralam government, and found one near Neyyatinkara. It is about 20 kilometers away from Marthandam. I thought that it is a good place to take a stay and start from there early to reach the ride starting point. So, I wanna check this place out.
I decided to take a route that will carry me towards Neyyatinkara from Nedumangad. This was a plan I initially made. In previous days, Aditya told the plan as to go to Ponmudi and then Neyyar dam. That Neyyar dam striked me while staring from room. So, I charted the plan as to go to Neyyar dam, then go to Amboori which is along the way to Netta, the border. Then to cross the border, get the highway and come back.
I had breakfast from the cafeteria and started by around 9 AM. It was drizzling and quite nice. I reached Neyyar dam and found that there was no water flowing in the dam. But, the place looked good. So, I asked for the ticket which costed 10 rupees and went inside to check. My bike was parked near the security gate as they didn’t allow me to take it inside. The place was beautiful at that time, along with the weather. I felt like it is a nice place to have an open-heart conversation with the loved ones.
I was roaming around and went on top of the dam to see either sides. It was beautiful and very tall. After some half an hour, I left the place and took the route towards Amboori. On the way I saw a road that goes to top of the dam, but it was like a waste as it took me to the other side of the dam where I was already. I continued to Amboori.
The way to Amboori was great. I reached Amboori and saw two bridges on the map. I remember that the guy (unable to recollect his name now), told about the bridge in Amboori. I was confused with one he meant. Then, I decided to visit both the bridges. The first one I visited is called the Kumbichal bridge, it was well maintained and the road to that bridge was having aggressive gradients. But, it is worth the effort.
The view on that bridge towards east side showed a mountain range having three hills next to each other, covered by clouds. It was amazing feel there, many tourists were visiting that place. I requested one guy to take a photo of me along with that mountain range and I got it. After spending some time there, I left to see the other bridge.
The other bridge is called the Amboori bridge and it is the old one, wide as one bike can go. The road to that bridge was so bad and steep. I couldn’t ride back from reaching, so I was walking all the to the main road. I was exhausted, so after refueling, I left to go to Netta.
Rest of the routes were already explored when going to Kanyakumari. However, I was lost again and reached Kuzhithurai instead of Marthandam. Despite that I continued on the highway and reached the city. The bridge in keltron junction was still under construction that the alternate route there was also blocked.
I saw a bus that goes through Nedumangad and followed its route. It took a route towards the Vembayam and the gradients were so severe. The rain was also accompanied. I took a couple of stops because of rain and managed to get close to Nedumangad where I had the first accident in here.
There was a car parked in the middle of the road ahead of me. And there was another idiot with a car that over took, applied a sudden break that made me to crash on to their car. Luckly, no damage and injury of any kind was experienced. There one lady was kind enough to shout at the drivers for me and she asked if I am ok twice.
Then, I resumed the ride and reached the campus for dinner. It was a nice ride of around 150 kilometeres, while the elevation gain is itself around 2 kilometer. One main point that I forgot is to check the Neyyatinkara PWD guest house. I will check it next time.
Below are the photos and videos I took on the ride.
Below is the Strava log of this ride.
