Tired of the city, one day last week i decided to get away. Concurring on the dates with wifey who nodded her approval, her keen sense of understanding that she almost always does so without a fuss. This time probably happy to see my back for a week! Whatever. I was ready. Where to? What mode of transport? All alone? For how long? were the Q's that obviously sprung up. Frankly, i had no plan. I just wanted out. At first light on March 7th i was off with my MPV, our family's 'old-n-faithful, bold-n-beautiful' Qualis, nicknamed Silver Mary! At 17yrs she’s a celebrated one mind you, still turns heads and can give most new cars on the road a tough huff-puff to the post!
A few weeks back our daughter Nidhi had penned an article in her 'Keep it Simple, silly' scribbles, dedicated to road journeys. And it triggered this one in me. A few simple rules i had in mind. I wasn’t going to take NH-4 which was done a zillion times over. I wasn’t going to be on the same road as travelled before and i wasn’t going to make a fixed plan for any of the days except in the morning of each day.
Day-1: That morning i found myself breezing along NH-9, to Solapur passing by naturally curative Uruli Kanchan, industrial Kurkumbh and the massive Ujani Dam backwaters, then shifting on to NH-13. Driving past the city of Bijapur (Vijayapura) with the magnificent Gol Gumbaz on the horizon, a quick stop for dhaba lunch and i was hurtling past Kolhar, Bilgi Cross, Gaddanakeri Cross, Kerur Cross, and quaint little villages of Garsangi, Rolli, Badagandi, Heggur, Sunag, Anagawadi, Kundargi, Sulikeri, Katageri, Halakukri through the district town of Bagalkot and found myself in the historic cave town of Badami. Whew! That was some run. Just enough energy left in me to check out the village, bathe and dine. Its 8pm and i’m out like a light! (489 kms, 9 driving hours)
Day-2: The azan at the local mosque sets of at 5.30am, Supreme Court order be damned! Caves open at sunrise. So, tucking in a steaming hot plate of ‘chow-chow bhath’ (a combo in Karnataka comprising sheera and upma), and downing it with a double large filter coffee, i head out to explore the caves of Badami. These famed caves of the otherwise dusty one street village are just damn worth a visit. Chalukyan Dynasty, 6-7CE, which once governed a region from Tamilnadu to Gujarat, in its resplendent times of glory, is today left with whatever Mughal invaders and British rule thought of leaving behind. If it’s Badami, can Pattadakallu and Aihole be far behind? Quite not. Excellent temple architecture, covering both North and South Indian styles can be witnessed with the revered Mallaprabha river keeping steady company. With some more hours before sunset, i have a dose of Shiva temples at Mahakuta (self-emanating ling & a chatur mukha one too, with the springs of the temple kund irrigating ninety acres of surrounding land) and Banashankari. The ASI has done a superb job of restoration and maintaining all the three sites of great archeological significance. Hats off! Night halt Badami. (80kms, 7 driving and exploring hours)
Day-3: The morning azan is my alarm again. Nevermind, it was anyway time to take out the map and figure out today’s journey. Ilkal, Hubli, Hampi, Gadag were options but i’d been here a decade or so ago. I was pleasantly left with the choice of taking a new country road past the tiny villages of Adgala, Chikka Mucchalguda, Hire Mucchalguda, Salahalli and eventually reaching Lokapur and Mudhol - my ancestral village where we cousins had fun during school vacations, but with which i have no roots left worth mentioning today. Catching up with a few friends at Mudhol, grabbing a local thali at Lokapur, driving past and into small hamlets through an agrarian region was both enriching and revealing. The people, their habits, dressing, food, local culture, language and dialect, religious diversity can all be soaked into during short chai halts and stretch breaks. Local bus shelters make a great melting pot for conversations. Indeed heart rending to see the mighty rivers of Ghataprabha and Krishna fast drying up with three more months of summer ahead! It was destination Belgaum by early evening. A rejuvenating massage and i was ready to hit the sack. (245kms, 5 driving hours)
Day-4: A quick breakfast meet with a cousin and noting down a route recently explored by him, it was destination Panjim for today! This route takes one past Khanapur village and veers off right to Hemadga, through the dense Bhimgad WLS to Anmod. Then through Bhagwan Mahavir WLS to Ponda and Farmagudi via Mollem. NH 4A. Narrow single track forest road not for the faint hearted driver, as the game of ‘who’s gonna chicken out first’ is forever going on for most part of the forest road. Panjim arrived late afternoon only to find myself lucky to get the last available room at the very adorable Afonso Guest House in a quaint by-lane of what is the last remaining Latin quarter in Asia. Once in Panjim, it had to be catching up over lunch with ol’ friend Linda of Viva Panjim fame, make a new friend in Mrs. Afonso, some compulsive Goan style sussegad, heading out for a levitating body massage at Neomis and settling down for some quiet tipple and Portuguese cuisine snugly ensconced in one of the charming balcao’s of my most favourite eating house in downtown Panjim, Venite - since 1954. (140kms, 3 driving hrs)
Day-5: It’s difficult for non-Goans not to be asleep in Goa past one’s usual waking time. Today was no different. Why should it, anyway? A wholesome family cooked brekker with Goan poi (pao) and i was raring to go. The easiest thing would have been to hit NH-4 and get back to Pune same day. But no. I was reminded of the rules. So, it had to be NH-17 (now NH-66). An impromptu catch up over chai with my very first friend in Pune, a school buddy, who now lives in sleepy Aldona, it was almost noon by the time i hit the highway. If one is in no hurry to reach Goa from Pune or Mumbai, i recommend you take this route. It is just so awesomely scenic! Cruising and curving past Kudal, Kasal, Kankavli (where a superb Konkani veg thali at Hotel Ashish was a highlight), Rajapur, Lanja, Hathkhambha, Sangameshwar - from each of these towns, several country roads make it to a dozen pristine beaches, all inside an hour’s drive - i reach Chiplun at 5pm. A near perfect stop at Hotel Reemz for the night was enough to rejuvenate me for the last day tomorrow. (326kms, 5.5 driving hrs)
Day-6: It’s 8am and i’m still lazing in bed. Wtf? and who cares. I’m on a solocation. And with no real plan. Slowly i make way for breakfast, saddle up and am off. Past Khed, Poladpur, Mahad i reach Mangaon. I could well have carried on to get on to the E-way at Panvel but i dint wish to jump into compulsions of city life. Not just yet. So, i veer off onto the Tamhini ghat road. Pulling over and soaking in the serenity of these magnificent mountain woods, i pick out an unassuming but well located food joint ‘Chatai’ overlooking the Mulshi lake for lunch. After which i slowly make my way home to a warm, inviting and excited family. (226kms, 4.5 driving hours).
I have logged over 1500kms of driving. That works out to an average of over 250kms a day, six days on the trot. With zero vehicle down time on a 17-yr old vehicle...no, not even a flat tyre. That's Toyota build quality, reliability and durability! Simply and incredibly awesome.
India inspires. She beckons and challenges. ‘Are you game?’ she seductively seems to taunt. She prepares you for the un-preparable. This one was impromptu. It was free-wheeling. It was without an agenda; without any agenda. Perhaps therefore, it’s been so incredible. Maybe this is another dimension to what is befittingly called ‘Incredible India’!
(Photo credits to the author)
