Prelude
Under normal circumstances, I am a non-believer in reincarnation. But given my conundrum, I am forced to think about it. I strongly feel that I was a dedicated & workaholic truck driver in my past life. What else would explain my constant itch to head out for a road trip at every possible opportunity? The smell of country side, vast and inviting open stretches of tarmac and never-ending trance music playing while I drive away into eternity is one dream that I always have each and every night that I go to sleep. (Yes, you are thinking right. My mom also branded me crazy when I explained my intent behind long road trips).
After a slew of numerous weekend drives to nearby places like Nashik, Pune, Lavasa and Panchgani, I was wondering when I would get to drive out for as long as the road allows. It was one of those plans which you keep talking about to friends, especially after downing a few drinks, but they never seem to materialize. However I was determined not to let mine take the same path.
While casually evaluating the calendar for the next set of holidays, I saw there were two long weekends coming up in August. I jumped at the opportunity of combining them to create a 10 day window. Monsoons are probably the best weather to drive out if enjoying scenery is your primary concern. The Better Half (hereinafter referred to as TBH©) had already been to coastal Karnataka once before and she suggested this would be a good drive. I promptly agreed (apart from the fact that I had no real say anyway!) and we started charting out the route. The idea was simple – we need to cover more than 1500 kms (our last longest road trip) and see places that we have never visited before. The only constants would be gastronomy and virgin landscapes.
We decided to drive from Mumbai to Jog Falls, proceed on to Chikmaglur, Coorg and finally end up in Goa, before heading back Home. So this added up to 2000 kms! Impressive, I thought and felt a tinge of triumph somewhere in my belly on the thought of creating a new personal record. Little did I know what the future had in store for me!
We were as excited as a small kid gets when given a new set of crayons and asked to go wild with his creativity. The next few days were spent in hectic research on hotels, home-stays and route planning. Armed with the requisite information, we made our bookings at Shimoga (near Jog Falls), Chikmaglur and Coorg. Goa was left open as I was pretty sure of getting good hotel deals during off season. In parallel, we started listing down incidentals such as music, food, snacks, things-to-do at each location et al. And of course the necessary evils – chargers, cables, netbook, cameras, GPS and maps.
This was perhaps our best planned road trip. We charted out the route along with a time table, factoring in halts and also planned buffers for unforeseen events. Everything except where and what we would eat was planned for. Or was it? Only time would tell!
Day 1
Murphy’s Law is a notorious phenomenon. I’m no exception. Howsoever hard I’ve tried to catch a good night’s sleep before all my travels, I end up sleeping late. This trip was no exception. I managed to finally get in bed at 1 am, which meant about 4 hours of sleep. Since we were to do almost 800 kms on Day 1, I wanted to leave as early in the morning as possible and beat the traffic.
We left our home at around 5.45 am and picked up good speed right from the word go. TBH© was tasked with keeping trip logs – distances, key milestones, toll payments, halts etc. As with any new assignment, she did begin with a lot of gusto but fizzled out by Day 3. Untimely sleep sessions and clicking random pictures of grazing cattle and local folks seemed more important to her. Naturally I was fuming because relying on my memory in this era of smart phones and laptops can be a tough task!
(Author’s question: Why can’t women understand the importance of meticulous record keeping?)
Pune Bypass was quickly completed and we got on to the Bangalore highway. We had the advantage of leaving on a weekday and hence encountered very little traffic on highway. While roads outside Mumbai and Pune were just about average, Karnataka has stretches to die for. They are what you wish Mumbai roads should be. I do not remember any moment when the speedometer needle went below 110 kmph! The drive was smooth and pretty much like a video game. How I wish I had a car with cruise control feature! Thanks to these roads, we reached Jog Falls at exactly 7 pm, after about 11 hours of spirited driving!
What we were welcomed with was simply breathtaking. The beauty of majestic Jog Falls – in all their fury and glory – enveloped by fog in the light of dusk. It was such a refreshing sight that it took away all the fatigue caused by the nonstop long drive. I quietly thanked God for this sight. Standing humbled in front of the waterfalls, we soaked in the sight for a few moments before proceeding to catch a quick snack at a restaurant in the premises. It was the best Plain Dosa we ever had and before we could realize, we helped the owner finish his stock of batter. We drove to our non-descript home-stay and had a peaceful sleep that night. Day 1 was a huge success by all measures.
Day 2
The next morning we decided to trek down to the base of Jog Falls and experience the Niagara Falls of India from close quarters. That strenuous downhill walk was a reality check for my body. But the real stress came from that phone call on our way back up. As a habit, I called up the hotel in Chikmaglur for reconfirmation. Lo and behold, we were told that our booking doesn’t exist! It seems that some newbie messed up at the time of reservation and booked us for the next month!
Note #1 to Self: always get a written confirmation from the hotel.
Already exhausted by the walking, we took a break and I quickly made some calls to other hotels in Chikmaglur. But being a long weekend everything was sold out. This really came as a rude shock to the well planned couple.
Since we already had confirmed booking in Coorg after two days, we had to fill in the gap somehow. After consulting our trusted friends (i.e. Google Maps and Sygic), we decided to take a detour towards Bangalore. Common sense dictated that most citizens would be out to nearby places and it would be easier to find hotel accommodation. Uncommon sense dictated that we ask the local traffic cop for directions. ‘That would be the wisest option’ I declared in a commanding voice to TBH©. We realized it only much later when we halted for tea that it wasn’t.
Assuming we would make it to Bangalore by dinner time, I was taking it easy. At the tea halt, I started chatting up with the tea stall guy and that’s when reality struck like lightening. We were headed in the opposite direction! That cop probably had some inherent hatred towards our state and that’s when I connected the dots why he was staring at my MH license plate so hard. Luckily the tea guy guided us well and we were back on the normal route.
However it was already well into the evening and by the time we hit State Highway, it had turned dark. This section of our road trip is etched in our memory like nothing else. Driving in the dead of the night, with just our car on the narrow two-lane unlit highway and being constantly slowed down by sleep is any motorist’s worst nightmare. I still don’t know how I managed to drive for over six hours in such adverse conditions. What I do remember were those moments where I literally wanted to use black coffee as eye drops to keep me awake. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the number of tea cups consumed and eye washes performed that evening would qualify for Guinness Record by a comfortable margin. And yes, chocolates. Copious quantities of this wonderful energy booster were consumed in that single night on a simple premise that I was exhausted. The real reason was that we could not afford to halt for a proper meal (aside from the fact that nothing was open at that unearthly hour anyway!)
We entered Bangalore exactly at the stroke of midnight. Lucky to have found a McDonalds that was still open, I quickly lapped up whatever was left in their kitchen and proceeded to our hotel. I have little recollection of how much (or exactly what) I ate that night. All I remember is that after 33 years, I slept like a baby again. Day 3 and part of day 4 were spent in Bangalore doing the usual stuff – exploring the city, trying out some local eating joints and recharging our batteries for the next leg of our ‘well planned’ dream road trip.
Day 4
Once we bid farewell to Bangalore, we got onto the lovely road to Coorg. This was a not a very long drive so we left after a scrumptious lunch. Coordinates were fed into the GPS, we were in good time, our tummies were full and basically life was perfect at that moment. As expected, we reached Madikeri by 7 pm. Since we were on time, I slowed down upon reaching the town so that we could soak in the greenery. We halted at many places mid-way to click pictures in the wonderful evening light of the setting sun. At one such small roadside shop I thought of finally asking for the exact location of our home-stay. He didn’t know.
‘He looks dumb anyway, so let us ask someone else’ said a voice inside my head. I asked at least seven people but nobody seemed to know the address! I thought maybe language was a barrier so I showed them photos – of the house, the owners, the gate and basically whatever I was carrying as proof of stay. Zilch. Nada. Didn’t ring a bell with the locals.
My male ego did not permit me to ask for directions earlier. But now it was dark and there was no real option left. I grudgingly picked up the phone to ask for direction from the owner himself. And that’s when my dad’s words rung like a bell in my head ‘If something is too good to be true, it actually is’. We had crossed the exit to this home-stay more than a 100 kms back! Hmm, so THAT was the mystery of this perfect timing.
Note #2 to Self: it is not just sufficient to reconfirm your booking, but also to double check the directions. And in interiors of India, artificial intelligence is really no match for natural stupidity.
The owner suggested that it was futile to even think of turning back. Instead he recommended an alternate route which would take us through some rough terrain but would still be faster and much shorter. I passed on the phone to a local who understood the instructions and translated them for me. Probably the only thing he forgot to translate was the fact that this ‘alternate route’ did not have ANY lighting whatsoever and it was a single lane kutccha road passing through a real forest!
When we hit that road the only thing on my mind were two prayers – one for our safety, and the other, that TBH© falls asleep ASAP. With her elephant like memory, I was sure to get blacklisted for life for committing this grave crime – twice over. (Un) luckily for me, she is a very resilient woman and well trained as a navigator by her father on their road trips. Not only was she up the whole time, she tried to quell the faux pas by reminding me of more severe blunders that I have committed in the past. Maybe she presumed that such an eye opener would manifest itself physically and keep me awake?
After the Bangalore drive, I really thought I’d never be able to undertake such a night drive ever again in my life. Little did I know how soon and in the same trip I would be subject to another such experience. As a rule, I always avoid highway driving after dark. And here we were, driving 250 kms, second time in a row, in a span of 3 days in pitch darkness and roads that would make State Highways look like German autobahns. Two and a half hours later we reached the gates of our home stay and were welcomed by the hosts and other guests amidst cheers and applause. That evening was well spent in the company of warm strangers with whom we shared drinks and excellent food cooked by our host. The next two days were soaked in bliss and relaxation of Coorg. The magical concoction of nature, greenery and fresh coffee rejuvenated us like no spa could ever do.
Day 6
After a heavy breakfast and a heavier heart, we bid farewell to our hosts, their lovely hospitality and their beautiful home-stay; to head out towards Goa. This leg of the trip was something that usually goes as a bucket list item for many people. Monsoon rains and coastal Karnataka present a combination so heady and romantic that you’ll be forgiven for believing you are in heaven. No amount and quality of words, Bollywood songs or photographs can do justice to the magic you can witness. We crossed numerous rivers, canals and lakes either parallel or underneath us. Rain clouds provided the most awesome skyline that a painter could wish for. It was as if rain was his muse and was playing hide with him while we were the amazed spectators. We were driving at a pretty good speed but somehow it felt like a sacrilege not to stop regularly, click some photos, have a cup of tea, sit on the car’s hood and just look away into the beauty. This coastal drive showed us more greenery and shades thereof than a kid’s coloring book.
And that’s where another impromptu milestone arrived in our already legendary road trip. As we were approaching Murudeshwar, it started raining cats and dogs and most other animals of the jungle. Visibility had dropped to zero and given the road conditions, it was deemed unsafe by TBH© to drive further. I suspect she did not want to score a hat trick of night driving. Given my earlier track record of conviction, my voice carried zero weightage. Considering this as a sign of divine interpretation, we took an unscheduled night halt at a hotel in the lap of Lord Shiva’s larger-than-life statue.
Day 7
Aah the simple joys of life. After an early morning homage to the mighty Shiva, we hit National Highway 17 crossing Honavar, Gokarna and Ankola in quick succession. Post the mandatory mug shots with the entry board of each town, we thought of making a stop for early lunch. It was still pounding hard and visibility was poor. So a hot and fresh meal would have been the perfect filler (pun intended).
When it comes to food, we are a couple who would stop at the most obscure dhaba (as long as it appears clean) rather than those fancy hotels frequented by tour bus operators. So when we crossed a small eatery displaying the sign ‘Meals Available’ we thought it would be worth giving this a try. And yes, we were not disappointed at all. Although the board turned out to be a false promise, the owner was accommodating enough to prepare her house special chicken curry, fish fry and local rice. We didn’t mind the wait because honestly, we weren’t in any rush whatsoever. After all a road trip is best enjoyed when you get to taste the cuisine and interact with the locals.
A leisurely meal, a power nap, some playful moments with the owners’ pets and kids and tea made a perfect lunch break for us. When we got back to the road, it was still raining hard but not unmanageable. In fact the weather and roads were turning increasingly romantic as we approached Goa. I don’t know if that was the placebo effect or just my creative imagination. When we reached Goa at 8 pm, it felt as if we had achieved something that we possibly could have only dreamt till now. To honor this joint accomplishment, we decided to not do anything else in Goa other than laze, eat and drink. Maybe that’s why I have absolutely no recall of how the next three days went by.
We started our trip to Mumbai on the tenth day with stories that are fit to be told to our children and grand children. The return journey was filled with reflections of a magical road trip – something that would go on to become the stuff of legend as well as benchmark amongst our friends. As my car (the humble yet mighty Hyundai Getz) finally hit the parking lot in my building, I switched over to the trip meter. It read 2999.9 kms. TBH© looked at me but didn’t say a word. Our eyes had a look – an unsaid and unexplained feeling of actualization and conquest. At that moment, the only thing I felt was a slight chill down my spine and probably a tear of joy on my cheek.
(This post is my entry for ‘The Perfect Road Trip’ contest organized by Ambi Pur and Indiblogger. Please visit, like and share facebook.com/AmbiPurIndia page)