Reminiscences of my longest road trip to date

It has been exactly a year since I (along with my family) made my longest road trip to date. Reminiscing about it, I thought why not blog about it.

It was during Onam last year that we decided to drive from Trivandrum to Indore to get our car there. We debated the option of sending it by train/road transport and but decide against it. Driving the car down (or geographically speaking driving ‘up’) to Indore seemed a better option. Since the wife and kids were game to join in, the option of hiring a driver was discarded.

Day 1

We started on Saturday 10^th September 2016 at 5:30 AM from Sreekaryam, Trivandrum. Within a couple of hours we reached the scenic environs of Arivalmozhi with its numerous windmills.

Soon we hit the Kanyakumari- Bangalore highway and we were cruising. We managed to reach Madurai by 10:30 and stopped over at Saravanas for brunch. The dosas and chutneys at Madurai are second to none and we enjoyed every dish we ordered.

Windmills of the Gods

Palace or College ?

Back on the road it was back to cruising at about 100 kmph.

Around 1:30 PM we passed by Salem and dispatched off Krishnagiri too by 4 PM without stopping. We had enough stock of quick eats and games to keep the kids busy/happy. We were to halt at my brother-in-law’s place at Bangalore. The last stretch however was painful as it took us about two hours from Hosur to my brother-in-law’s place in Bangalore. We reached by around 6:30 PM. Time to put the feet up and relax!

Day 2

We again started at sharp 5:30 AM (looking back I feel sorry for the kids – early start for three days and more than 13 hours on the road each day, would not have been good for them. However they did not complain – rather they made the most of it playing games, snacking and napping).

Within about 40 minutes, we were out of Bangalore and on the highway. My bro (and sis)-in-law came for an early Sunday morning drive in their car and escorted us through the Bangalore roads so that we could get on to the highway quickly.

One thing we quickly learnt is that while on Day 1 we were spoilt for choice on where to stop for food / rest stops, the Bangalore -Pune highway was barren in terms of decent places to catch your breath. We stopped at Chitradurga for breakfast – can’t say we enjoyed the place even half as much as Madurai. We scampered off back to the highway. 

This highway had even less traffic than the first leg of the journey. Hebbal (or Hebbalu as it is called today) was dispatched off at 9:30 and Hubli by 11:30. Cries of hunger from the travellers meant that we stopped 20 minutes from Hubli at ‘Roti ghar’. Since the name of the restaurant suggested what we should eat, we complied.

Swamiji's mobile residence

The rest of the journey was uneventful except for a painful 20 km stretch near Satara which was under repair (incidentally this was the only time during the whole journey when we got bad roads). We reached our hotel at Phaltan by 7:30 PM. Thankfully the hotel was an excellent one (Phaltan is an Industrial town and this was probably the only business hotel). As you can imagine we hit the sack pretty early and had a good night’s sleep.

Day 3

For a change we started late (8:30 AM) as we decided to pace ourselves. From Phaltan the route was via Ahmednagar and on to Malegaon from where we could catch AB Road (Agra-Bombay road) which was the final leg in our journey.

Day 3 was uneventful but felt long. The travelers were tired and quieter than the other two days. The kids slept for part of the journey. The last couple of hours were interesting in that Indore was just within touching distance but we never seemed to be getting there. Probably many of us have felt that during long journeys when the final leg seems the longest!

We reached home by 8:30 PM after 3 days of being on the road. As per the log book, we had covered 2160 Kms with a driving time of 36 hours spread across 3 days, averaging 60 kmph. 

Before the journey, our close relatives had advised us against it but we made the plunge as everyone was game. After the trip, we were indeed tired but it was worth it as we enjoyed every moment of the journey. Paraphrasing a famous quote it is not the destination but the journey that is important!

 Our trustworthy chariot

Commercialization of places of worship

There are two jyothirlinga temples within a couple of hours drive from Indore. The Mahakaleswar temple at Ujjain is about an hour’s drive whereas Omkareshwar is a couple of hours from the city. Though they are in close proximity, the experience is as different as chalk and cheese.

At Omkareshwar, right from the moment you approach the parking area, you are accosted by ‘intermediaries’ who promise you a ‘direct’ and ‘special’ darshan of the Lord. Then there are the boatmen who inflate the distance and time needed for darshan and try to cajole you into using their services for a hefty fee. If you are traveling with elders, for a moment you are tempted to accept.

We experienced this during a recent visit. Even if you decline, they follow you to the temple, the ‘rate’ decreasing in proportion to the distance left! I could get rid of them only by telling them that my mother was threatening to return without entering the temple (which she was).

Once inside the sanctum sanctorum, the story was no different – half the people present were the same ‘guides’ who had brought their ‘tourists’ to the front of the queue!

At Ujjain on the other hand, the flow of pilgrims is regulated by the authorities and there are no intermediaries selling their ‘wares’. One can enter the temple premises on their own and spend as much time as required without anyone interfering.

As you can imagine, the Ujjain experience is that of visiting a place of worship whereas Omkareshwar did not have the same feel. Sad to say that these days the latter seems to be the norm.