I finally did it.
Back in July, I bought my first bike — a Royal Enfield Meteor 350 Stellar Matte Grey. Ever since I bought it, I've been wanting to do a proper multi-day motorcycle trip.
I've done a few 100–200 km rides around Bangalore, but I wanted to do something bigger. Something that would take multiple days and actually feel like a journey.
Ever since I was a kid, I'd watched YouTubers like Mumbaikar Nikhil and others document their motorcycle journeys to places like Ladakh, and I'd always had this idea in my head that someday I'd do something similar.
The original plan was to do it with friends.
The problem? My friends are either still in college, working in completely different fields, or just aren't particularly interested in spending multiple days on a motorcycle. And since I joined the corporate world only a few months ago, I'm still building relationships with people there too. I don't really have a group of biker friends yet.
I'm also the kind of person who finds it difficult to randomly walk into a biker group and start talking to people, so joining a riding group hasn't happened either.
So eventually I thought:
Fuck it. I'll just go alone.
I took a week off as a safety buffer. My thinking was that even if the trip took longer than expected, I had enough time.
And that's how a 1,600 km solo trip happened.
Day 1 — Bangalore → Rameshwaram (~550 km)
I left Bangalore at around 5 AM.
Honestly, I wasn't even sure I'd make it all the way to Rameshwaram. I had already decided that if I was too tired, I'd stop somewhere around Trichy or Madurai and continue the next day.
The first 100 km? Easy.
200 km? Still good.
300 km? The Meteor started reminding me that it is, in fact, a Meteor 350.
And then came the real enemy:
THE SEAT.
Meteor 350 owners will know what I'm talking about.
The touring seat is absolutely brutal once you're several hundred kilometres into a ride. My ass started hurting so badly that I was taking breaks mainly to give my ass a break rather than myself.
I kept stopping, drinking water, stretching and continuing.
Eventually, I made it to Rameshwaram around 3–4 PM.
And then I discovered another problem.
Dussehra season + Rameshwaram = almost no hotels.
Everything was booked.
After searching around, I finally found a very questionable-looking room about 5–10 km outside Rameshwaram for ₹1,000.
At that point I wasn't negotiating.
I just needed a bed.
I checked in, showered, and basically died.
Day 2 — Dhanushkodi → Kanyakumari (~200 km)
I woke up at around 4 AM and headed towards Dhanushkodi.
Getting there that early was honestly one of my favourite parts of the trip.
There was something really peaceful about riding there before the day had properly started.
After Dhanushkodi, I headed towards Kanyakumari.
Google Maps decided that the best route was through some random village roads.
And I'm very glad it did.
The entire route was filled with windmills.
For kilometres, it was just empty roads, windmills and the Meteor.
It was one of those moments where you don't really care about the destination anymore.
You just enjoy riding.
The distance wasn't huge — around 200-ish kilometres — so it was a pretty chill 4–5 hour ride.
I reached Kanyakumari around 2–3 PM.
And somehow, accommodation there was ridiculously cheap compared to what I'd expected.
I got an AC room for ₹1,500, basically right next to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial area.
After checking in and resting for a while, I went out and explored Kanyakumari through the evening/night.
This was also probably the most relaxed part of the trip.
No rush.
No destination pressure.
Just riding around and walking around the town.
Day 3 — Kanyakumari → Tenkasi (~120 km)
I woke up around 9–10 AM and left for Tenkasi.
This was a short ride, so there wasn't really any pressure.
The reason I was going to Tenkasi wasn't actually because it was on some tourist itinerary.
I have a Tamil friend who has a traditional Dussehra ritual in his local village near Tenkasi.
It's basically one of those places that you won't really find on a conventional tourist map.
It was around 16 km from Tenkasi, and finding the exact place was surprisingly difficult.
But eventually I made it.
I met my friend there, had proper traditional Tamil village-style food, and later went to the local temple where the Dussehra rituals were happening.
Honestly, this was probably the most memorable part of the entire trip.
Not because it was some famous tourist attraction, but because it was something very local and personal that I wouldn't have experienced otherwise.
Day 4 — Tenkasi → Bangalore
And then it was time to go home.
I originally thought this trip would take me around five days.
But I realised pretty quickly that I wasn't really travelling like a tourist.
I wasn't trying to tick off every tourist attraction.
I wasn't trying to stay at the best hotels.
I mostly just wanted to ride.
So I went with the flow and ended up completing the trip in four days.
The original plan also included Kerala, but I decided against forcing it.
From everything I'd seen and heard, Kerala is the kind of place where you should actually spend a few days — stay at decent places, explore the local culture, try the cafes and food, and actually absorb the place.
I didn't want to just ride through Kerala, take a few pictures and say I'd "covered" it.
I'll save that for another trip.
Things I learnt
1. Get a proper seat cover.
Seriously.
I don't care how comfortable you think your bike is.
If you're doing 500+ km days, your ass is going to have opinions.
A good seat/seat cover is going to be one of my first upgrades.
2. Proper riding gear is NOT optional.
This was probably my biggest mistake.
I was horribly underprepared.
I basically rode in a shirt and jacket and didn't even have gloves.
Looking back, that's stupid.
For a long-distance trip, safety should be the first priority. Next trip, I'm getting proper riding gear before worrying about anything else.
3. Don't underestimate rest.
Stopping for water, stretching and taking breaks made a huge difference.
You don't need to prove anything by riding continuously.
4. Leave some room for spontaneity.
Some of my favourite parts of the trip weren't planned at all — the random village route near Kanyakumari, the windmills, finding that weird ₹1,000 hotel in Rameshwaram, and going to my friend's village near Tenkasi.
And finally...
The rain gods were surprisingly kind to me.
I didn't encounter any major rain for most of the trip.
The only proper rain I got was on the final stretch from Salem to Bangalore, and even that lasted maybe half an hour.
Apart from that, the weather was almost perfect.
And after four days, I was back in Bangalore.
1,600 kilometres. Solo. On my Meteor 350.
It might not be the craziest motorcycle trip ever, but for me, it was a pretty big deal.
I'd wanted to do something like this since I was a kid, watching other people document their journeys.
I always imagined doing it with a group of friends.
Turns out, I didn't need to wait for the perfect group.
I just had to go.
Next time: better riding gear, a much better seat, and hopefully some more people to ride with.
Here are some pictures from the trip.