East Coast Trail

“ Most memorable way to see India Review of Five Senses Tours Reviewed 5 March 2018 I stumbled on Five Senses motorcycle tours via a listing at the Lonely Planet site. I knew I had to do it. Turned out to be an amazing day filled with sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that I'm sure will remain some of my favorite memories of my first trip to India. Narayanan did a great job of communicating in advance of the trip, picked me up at my hotel, and helped me get safely through the insane traffic of Bangalore (I was happily a passenger for this first stage). Once we got out on the highway, I did a quick test drive on an access road, everything felt great, and we were off. I was still very happy to follow Narayanan and Ramesh, to find safe passage among the inevitable surprises like potholes and oncoming buses or meandering goats. We rode at around 60km/h which was fine since I was soaking up the sights on all sides and may have swerved a few times when I got too enamored of a golden haystack shining in the sun or the sight of a woman walking across a field with three goats tripping behind her. Our destination of Shravanabelagola (I still can't pronounce it) was also amazing...from the pile of sandals at the bottom of the sacred-to-Hindus hill to the crush of colorfully-dressed people squeezing through the door into the shrine. It felt like a true window into India. We enjoyed a couple of wonderful meals along the way (delicious Dosa for breakfast and an authentic Jain meal for lunch) and on the ride home iced coffee was the perfect antidote to the heat. Narayanan took these opportunities and others along the way to share his wealth of local knowledge and answer my endless questions. This really added another dimension of enjoyment to the trip, as I felt like I could understand more of what I was experiencing. By the time we made it back through the Bangalore traffic I was ready to be off the bike and into my hotel pool. But I felt like I'd made two new friends and lived at least two days in one. I would highly recommend Five Senses Tours as the way to experience India and hope I'll have the chance to do another one some time.”