Every time I go to Goa I wish I never leave. Its difficult to leave the beautiful beaches, and get back to the desk. This time though I had an incentive and a good one too. Not only was I not going back to work, I was driving to Bangalore with friends. Just entering the second phase of my holiday.. what fun :)
So, after 3 amazing days in goa, it was time to pack the bags; i think the only laborious thing I had done in the past 3 days. We started from Palolem at around 12.30 on the 7th March 2011. With a heavy heart, a tan i will remember for a long time and a lot of excitement, we head towards the city I left 3 years back.
We were looking to drive : 550 odd kms
Fellow drivers : Arun and Shyam (with sangeetha providing the entertainment)
The Route : Karvar-Kalghatki-Hubli-Davengere-chittradurga-Bangalore
First in the hot seat was Arun, who assured me I would love driving on the highway instead of the ghat sections up to Hubli. I will have to disagree with him now. Roads in this part of the country are really well done, the ghats are not too steep, and the traffic not too heavy. Just before we crossed the border to enter Karnataka, we stopped at a local dhaba called "Fishland" to have lunch. It was one of the lunches ill remember for a long time. Some mouth-watering preparations of Red snapper, clams, mackerel and simple curry rice later, I was wondering if we will be drive at all.
But Arun was up for a challenge and we were literally zipping through to Karvar in no time. The roads are genuinely good here, especially if you are used to the pot-hole filled variety in maharashtra (read :pune)The landscape kept changing throughout. From backwaters of the sea near karvar, through small villages that dotted the route, through winding ghat sections and patches of dense forests of trees with not a single leaf on them. It was a truly beautiful drive; but the tension strted to mount when we realised that we were dangerously low on fuel. Thankfully we reached Kalghatgi in time for some chai for ourselves and some petrol for the car.
We reached hubli at around 6.30 and it was my time to take the wheel. i was looking forward to driving on the Bangalore highway again after a wonderful drive to Kolhapur. It was almost dark when we started from Hubli and I was least prepared for what lay ahead of me. Although the highway is in good condition, there are a couple of diversions between Davangiri and Chitradurga that are quite dangerous. The service roads are bad and there's hardly any road amongst the pot holes.
The other thing you might want to watch out for in this patch are the fearless bikers, auto-walas, lorry walas and sometimes the truck drivers brave enough to drive on the wrong side of the road with headlights full on. Its quite illusive at night and you may think that they are on the other side of the road : NO. they are on your side, coming right at you! watch out!! Then occasionally you might find old village folk crossing the road at whim, dogs out for a stroll, truck drivers parked in one of the lanes without any signals. Rajnikanth would be proud of some of these guys for the sheer brashness of it all.
So anyway.. i manage to stick to the wheel for another 3 hours and we find a petrol bunk (lucky again) at Chitradurga. No decent hotels on the routes either. The last change in the drivers happens here, and Shyam is quite ready to take on the wheel. He has rested well on the backseat for some time, even managed a nap when Arun was driving, which make him best suited to take on the last 180 odd kms to Bangalore. I am already dozing in the back in 10 mins.. the sleep i have missed in Goa is finally catching up.
Fortunately, rest of our gang is in the bus ahead of us and has found a decent enough hotel to eat dinner. its almost 10.00 when we manage to catch up with them. After a quick bite, we are back on the road, with Shyam at the wheel. The rest of the road is quite good, or so it seems as keep drifting in and out of sleep. We reach Bangalore at around 1.30.
It has taken us 9 hours to reach Bangalore.. and its definitely been fun!! I think, the next time around though, I would like to take this route during day time, probably in winter. We finally reached Sangeetha's place at around 3.00 exhausted and sleepy. I thought it would take me great effort to wake up the next day, but i guess i was too excited to sleep..i was in bangalore..!!!
The next 7 days in Bangalore will be another post, another time..!
Coming up next though is my first every solo long driving from Bangalore to Pondicherry.. 430 kms of sheer driving pleasure.. in India!!
So, after 3 amazing days in goa, it was time to pack the bags; i think the only laborious thing I had done in the past 3 days. We started from Palolem at around 12.30 on the 7th March 2011. With a heavy heart, a tan i will remember for a long time and a lot of excitement, we head towards the city I left 3 years back.
We were looking to drive : 550 odd kms
Fellow drivers : Arun and Shyam (with sangeetha providing the entertainment)
The Route : Karvar-Kalghatki-Hubli-Davengere-chittradurga-Bangalore
First in the hot seat was Arun, who assured me I would love driving on the highway instead of the ghat sections up to Hubli. I will have to disagree with him now. Roads in this part of the country are really well done, the ghats are not too steep, and the traffic not too heavy. Just before we crossed the border to enter Karnataka, we stopped at a local dhaba called "Fishland" to have lunch. It was one of the lunches ill remember for a long time. Some mouth-watering preparations of Red snapper, clams, mackerel and simple curry rice later, I was wondering if we will be drive at all.
But Arun was up for a challenge and we were literally zipping through to Karvar in no time. The roads are genuinely good here, especially if you are used to the pot-hole filled variety in maharashtra (read :pune)The landscape kept changing throughout. From backwaters of the sea near karvar, through small villages that dotted the route, through winding ghat sections and patches of dense forests of trees with not a single leaf on them. It was a truly beautiful drive; but the tension strted to mount when we realised that we were dangerously low on fuel. Thankfully we reached Kalghatgi in time for some chai for ourselves and some petrol for the car.
We reached hubli at around 6.30 and it was my time to take the wheel. i was looking forward to driving on the Bangalore highway again after a wonderful drive to Kolhapur. It was almost dark when we started from Hubli and I was least prepared for what lay ahead of me. Although the highway is in good condition, there are a couple of diversions between Davangiri and Chitradurga that are quite dangerous. The service roads are bad and there's hardly any road amongst the pot holes.
The other thing you might want to watch out for in this patch are the fearless bikers, auto-walas, lorry walas and sometimes the truck drivers brave enough to drive on the wrong side of the road with headlights full on. Its quite illusive at night and you may think that they are on the other side of the road : NO. they are on your side, coming right at you! watch out!! Then occasionally you might find old village folk crossing the road at whim, dogs out for a stroll, truck drivers parked in one of the lanes without any signals. Rajnikanth would be proud of some of these guys for the sheer brashness of it all.
So anyway.. i manage to stick to the wheel for another 3 hours and we find a petrol bunk (lucky again) at Chitradurga. No decent hotels on the routes either. The last change in the drivers happens here, and Shyam is quite ready to take on the wheel. He has rested well on the backseat for some time, even managed a nap when Arun was driving, which make him best suited to take on the last 180 odd kms to Bangalore. I am already dozing in the back in 10 mins.. the sleep i have missed in Goa is finally catching up.
Fortunately, rest of our gang is in the bus ahead of us and has found a decent enough hotel to eat dinner. its almost 10.00 when we manage to catch up with them. After a quick bite, we are back on the road, with Shyam at the wheel. The rest of the road is quite good, or so it seems as keep drifting in and out of sleep. We reach Bangalore at around 1.30.
It has taken us 9 hours to reach Bangalore.. and its definitely been fun!! I think, the next time around though, I would like to take this route during day time, probably in winter. We finally reached Sangeetha's place at around 3.00 exhausted and sleepy. I thought it would take me great effort to wake up the next day, but i guess i was too excited to sleep..i was in bangalore..!!!
The next 7 days in Bangalore will be another post, another time..!
Coming up next though is my first every solo long driving from Bangalore to Pondicherry.. 430 kms of sheer driving pleasure.. in India!!
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