Showing posts with label Travelogue. Show all posts

It was decided on a phone call on Tuesday that we are going to Goa on the coming long weekend (Oct 2 – Oct 4). Some of us will go from Bangalore and others will join us there from Pune.
I booked the Bangalore-Goa bus tickets (return too) through Sea-Bird (which was a pathetic service in itself).
Scheduled departure from Bangalore: 8:15 PM
Scheduled arrival at Goa: 9:15AM
While I was booking tickets, Pranali cross-checked multiple times to make sure it is an AC bus. Though I was not so much in favor of taking an AC bus thinking that the weather anyways is cool and the night would be cooler.

Thursday evening, the bus started 15 minutes late. We didn’t get time to have dinner. AC, DVD-coach, semi-sleeper, partial luxury bus. The bus keepers (2 drivers for the night driving + 1 helper boy) had only one DVD, with only one movie – Shaadi No. 1 (horrible movie, because we were fearing they might put some Kannada movie, so the only relief was the movie being Hindi).

The bus stopped at a road-side restaurant at 12 midnight where I and Shambhu ordered for 2 plates Chhole Masala. Never did we know that it is a “Chhole Masala” prepared out of putting (not even properly mixed) Chhole into the curry of Egg-curry. Disgusting that was! And how much did it cost? 45 Rs. What a waste of money? Feared of having a stomach upset after eating the rubbish, I had a glass of juice and a 500 ml bottle of Slice. Thankfully, now I can sleep with a good taste in mouth.

The road was such a mess; the bus was swinging left-right-left because it was a narrow road and the ditches were making it shut-up-and-bounce because it was a broken road too. It was not easy to sleep (rather stick inside your seat), and scarier were the thoughts of coming back on the same route when our seat numbers were 34, 35, 36 (the last row of seats).

Savita calls me at around 7 in the morning (Pune group has already reached), “Where have you reached?”
Me (unaware of what lies ahead): I think we are a bit late but we should be there by 10 or 10:30.

After facing some traffic-jams on the way, we knew that we are at least 1.5 hour behind the schedule; the bus reached Ankola at 9 AM and stopped at Kamat Hotel. It had started raining by then. After some time we were told that the road to Goa is blocked due to rain. There is plenty of water on the connecting bridge and the news coming in was that the water level is still rising.

After waiting for around 1.5 hour, the passengers of the bus decided to take the train route. Because we were just 120 km from Goa, no one wanted to turn back. The bus took us to Ankola Railway Station. We got to know that there is a train Ankola-Madgaon at 11:30. Hardly had we started believing that we’ll reach Goa, it was announced that the 11:30 train is cancelled because of heavy rains. Damn! So, when is the next train? 5:30 PM. We were still deciding within ourselves whether we should wait for another 6 hrs at the platform, is it worth a wait; comes the next announcement: 5:30 train to Madgaon stands cancelled too because of the submerged railway track. Great! So this news put an end to all the discussions leaving us with no other option than to wait for the rain to stop and the roads to clear.

Though we tried for other options like taking interstate buses, buses through Hubli, attempts to book cabs (even at higher proces) but all in vain. Everyone was just too scared to go that way.

Finally the bus took us back to Kamat (where all buses for that route were halted) and we waited there till 4 PM when we heard that the Sea-bird buses have started leaving for Goa. We felt a sense of excitement again. The buses had really started and we had hardly moved 5 km when the bus was stopped by some cops. They were turning all the heavy vehicles back saying that the road is still not open.

Back to Kamat and it is still raining. The only option left now is to head back to Bangalore. We didn’t have time to waste. The day was setting (there was no sun by the way) and it was getting darker. The later we go, the lesser were the chances of getting a bus to Bangalore.

6:15 PM – Hired an auto from Kamat to Ankola bus stand only to realize that we have just missed one bus to Bangalore and the other buses left are full. No Vacant Seats! We were advised by some local people to catch a bus from Ankola to Kumta and from there we would be able to get buses to Bangalore. Did we an option not to believe them and think of our own?

Boarded a bus to Kumta – 40 km. Luckily got a seat in the otherwise packed bus and unluckily got the worst possible seat in that bus. Of the two windows by my side, one window pane was broken (read missing) and the other was so loosely fit that it was roaring into my ears. So cacophonous it was that I felt like breaking that one too. We got down at Kumta in even heavier rain at 7:30 PM. Rushed straight to the ticket counter and I was the happiest person on earth to know that a KSRTC bus will leave for Bangalore at 8 PM.

The rain was just not stopping and mind you, it was not drizzling, it was pouring; but who cares, we have a bus now. We loaded ourselves into the bus and parked ourselves into the best possible coordinates as if we are the owners of the bus. Yeah, the bus was more or less empty. I teased Pranali, “Won’t you like to board an AC bus?” We were hungry, we were drenched and we were tired, but this bus took all our worries at once.

I recalled the “Jab We Met” Kareena Kapoor dialog, “बस भगवान् जी, अब और excitement नहीं चाहिए बोरिंग बना दो जी अब इस रात को ”.
The bus started. We were now on our way back to Bangalore after converting a supposed-to-be-exciting Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore trip into a more-adventurous Bangalore-Ankola-Kumta-Bangalore trip.

But, I pictured: “पिक्चर अभी बाकी है मेरे दोस्त” when our loving bus had a flat tyre at NT Road, Shimoga. 2 AM in the morning. Could I ask for a better night-out for myself? I walked out of the bus till the driver-conductor duo replaces it with the spare tyre they had. Sometime later, I observed that the driver-conductor duo is not doing anything and just waiting for something and discussing. Out of curiosity, I just asked them, “अंकल जी, अब क्या हुआ?” And to my amusement, they replied, “सर, ये जो स्टेपनी है, ये फिट नहीं हो रही ये टायर इसके साइज़ का नहीं है ”

I mean, how is that possible? It was like “carrying a cycle tyre as a stepny to your scooter”.

“तो अब क्या करोगे?”
“कुछ नहीं सर, वेट करते हैं, KSRTC का कोई और बस आएगा, तो passengers को उसमे बैठा देंगे ”
“^%%^$&%*%!#” अब क्या बोलूँ मैं?
The other passengers were also out by now.
Even after a wait of around half an hour, no sign of any KSRTC bus. A bus came in the opposite direction. They lent the spare tyre. The tyre was replaced and we were on wheels again. Anything else is in store for us?

The bus stopped at another Kamat restaurant, but we were relaxed that we are very near to Bangalore now. So, we freshened ourselves and had good breakfast. We had a mini photo shoot inside the bus only to save as a witness to our miseries. Finally! We reached Majestic at 11 AM.

But to take things again to the negative side, cancelling the Sea-bird return tickets was another nightmare that we faced. We had to spend almost 3 hrs in and around Sea-Bird office to get it done and I reached home at 4 PM completely drained, no energy left.

That was the end of our pain but I must admit that the 2 girls: Priyanka and Pranali, were too calm all this time. Girls generally are expected to cry/crib in such a chain of failures. But these two were way too energetic to walk all along without giving any negative vibes. But I must say, the long weekend was completely utilized :P

Next morning I got up with the newspapers filled with the news of floods rightly mentioning some of the areas where we had been just a night back.

Let me first tell the reason of my high unavailability on the blogs in past one-and-a-half month. I was on internet but most of my time was eaten up by the “Tours and Travels”, “Hotel Bookings”, “Bus and Train Schedules” sites. I was apparently on India tour and was travelling most of the time covering all modes of transport (by road, rails and air):

Aug 22: Pune – Bangalore: Infy Transfer
Aug 29: Bangalore – Delhi: Indigo Flight (One rupee ticket :P). At Pravesh’s home
Aug 29: Delhi – Rohtak: To my home
Sep 2: Rohtak – Chandigarh: With mom
Sep 6: Chandigarh – Delhi: For Delhi Airport.
Sep 6: Delhi – Bangalore: Indigo Flight (One rupee ticket :P).
Sep 20: Bangalore – Kochuveli: With Parents. Charge with Nithanand.
Sep 22: Trivandrum – Kanyakumari: Parents saw the giant ocean waves for the first time.
Sep 23: Kanyakumari – Bangalore: The train saw around 30 UNO games we played on the way for 9 hours continuously.
Oct 1: Bangalore – Goa: A failure!
Oct 2: Goa – Bangalore: A success!

And on the cards is: Bangalore – Trivandrum: Sometime in October end.

In all these movements across state borders, I have even forgotten to give my new phone number to some of my friends. Let me finish this one quickly!

If things continue to be like this, I am afraid I need to put a “Where is Rathee?” gadget on this blog (inspired by “Where is Tom?” of “Ask Tom” fame).

Though most of these tours and trips were nice experiences in their own sweet ways, but the last one: “Bangalore – Goa” deserves a special mention here because of its link to a much bigger picture. Let me try to write separately on this in my next entry.

As a usual Saturday, I joined my friends for playing cricket at 8 in the morning. Played till 11. When I came back and had a look at my phone – 8 missed calls from a friend. “What happened to her?” Called her up! Excerpts:

[It’s ringing…]
Me – Hello!
Furious S – How many missed calls did you get from me?
Me – Eight.
Furious S – And could you see the interval between the missed calls?
Me – Hmm… quite frequent. The phone was not with me and I was playing cricket.
Not-so-furious S – $%$&#^
Me – Ok sorry, what’s it?
S – We are going to Lonavla.
Me – When?
S – Now!
Me – What?
S – We are going to have breakfast and then we’ll leave for Lonavla.
Me – But, how? All-of-a-sudden!
S – We were feeling bored, so thought of going. It’ll take us half an hour to finish
breakfast. Join us a Wakad quick.
Me – Half-an-hour!
[I need to go to the market, buy vegetables, prepare lunch for dad, wash some clothes (which I had already dipped in) and bath]
Me – Hmm… it’ll be a bit difficult for me to join you at Wakad. How about if I come by a train and join you at Lonavla only?
S – I don’t know. Make it fast. We are leaving soon. Bye!
Me – Ok, Bye!

[Hurry up boy! C’mon!]

Went (ran) to market, bought vegetables, washed clothes, prepared lunch (a chutney was the quickest I could think of), had bath and asked Saumik to get me the timings of “Express” trains to Lonavla. I was quick, so was he.
The best possible option was to catch “Pune-Manmad Express” at 12:45.

Told briefly to dad about the plan and left for station at 12:10. Everything was so fast; I had the ticket in my hand at 12:40. Train left at 12:55 (IST – 10 min late is so-much-on-time).

Reached Lonavla station at 1:40 and joined others at “Bushy dam” at 2:10 around 40 minutes after them.

It was our second stint at Lonavla and it was again outstanding. All of us headed for waterfalls. The weather was as usual more than pleasant, the flowing waters more than titillating and we more than cautious with our steps on slippery rocks. Of course we did not want to washout our cameras as we so-coolly did last time.

Last week we went to Bheemashankar and we were disappointed for not getting any waterfalls around with Paramita jumping on every site where the water was falling even from a height of 2 inches, "Hey, waterfall, waterfall!" [Literally … each “falling water” was a “waterfall”]
And here we were at Lonavla with the real waterfalls around us giving a perfect complement to our Bheemashankar trip.

The “giant waterfall” that we feared to enter last year was a bit mild this time (thanks to no rains in the last 2 days) and we left no stone unturned to enjoy the magnificent water-body. And because we managed to carry our cameras safe-and-sound till there, posed-a-lot and clicked-a-lot. These waterfalls are a place where the “serious” become “rollicking”, the “shy” become “playful” and the “naughty” become “impish”. “Maine subah se kuchh nahin khaya tha!”, but the moment I entered the waterfall the “hunger” got washed away and I became a part of the waterfall itself. I sat silently (people around me shouting continuously) closing my eyes (not by choice, but the volumes of water banging on my head did not let me open up) under the head-tapping stream (pelting stream rather) listening to the tabla it was playing on my top.

We came out of the fall after some 1.5 hrs – drenched, with a skin like 80 year old, much-much heavier clothes, absolutely deaf and hungry again. Gobbled up some vada-pavs and corns in no time. Reached back to the parking area, parked ourselves in a side restaurant and again gobbled up vada-pavs and kanda-bhajji (obviously, “Maine subah se kuchh nahin khaya tha!”). Then we walked all the way (~ 5 km) amid scenic clouds and mountains, which was a nice diet to our eyes too, back to Lonavla bus stand to catch the return bus.

Everything fell in place and in time for me since morning till the time to catch the bus back-to-Pune arrived. That's when I realized the 7 missed calls from dad. Called him up and told that I am already in a bus to Pune. We were looking for a bus with a particular route (via Wakad) so that the girls can comfortably drop into their homes en-route. My dad was calling frequently asking the whereabouts, raising the tension-meter and these 3 girls with me were "not bothered at all". Grrr... was that funny, because as per dad I should have entered Pune and I was still "loitering" at the bus-stop? Waited for around 45 minutes and let go 5-6 buses to Pune (because Wakad was not not on their routes) and see, we got into the worst possible bus after that. The bus took the longest possible route (not via wakad) and dropped us at Shivajinagar at 10 PM. Took autos to the respective places to reach home after 10:30 PM.

[Face Papa!] Ok, he is sleeping. Shh.. Just sleep, I'd face him tomorow.

But boy, the trip was oh-so-economical, spending not more than 150 per head (including everything – to-and-fro tickets, snacks, eatables and all the more fun). I have learnt that the trips planned (or not-planned) impromptu turn out to be more fun and leave us more satisfied in the end.

Check out the coincidence: Lonavla was the first place I trekked when I came from Bangalore to Pune and Lonavla is the last too when I am going back to Bangalore from Pune. My take away - this place will always bring pleasant memories to me.

Sorry for being a bit late in writing this.

This Saturday I made myself lucky to visit Lonavla – A place of waterfalls. Finally, I set myself out for my “first adventurous trip” after coming to Pune and it was simply amazing.

Protagonists (7): Jharna, Nandita, Trupti, Savita, Shambhu, Jigar, Praveen

We booked a Qualis and started at 7:30 in the morning, but spent around 2 hrs in Pune itself picking people from their respective places. Played UNO on the way, so could not concentrate much on the sceneries en route, which I felt later, we should have.
Reached Lonavla at around 10:30. When we got down from the cab after reaching the place, the weather was awesome with wind at full speed. We were busy clicking photographs and there it comes - RAIN. It started with little showers and turned into a heavy downpour in no time.

Initially being hesitant in getting wet, the feeling was completely washed away by the showers in the face as we leapt towards one of the waterfalls (out of many facing us) in the downpour itself. A miscalculation here: Except me and Jigar, everyone took their mobile phones along with them and Shambhu’s digicam too. For some it was intentional while others were just carried away by the excitement and forgot to leave them back in the cab.

Jharna’s handbag came to rescue the ruined gadgets but little did it help. The damage was already done. Though we were in full rain, completely soaked, we didn’t stop clicking photographs putting a shade of hands around the camera and mobiles. Little did we realize that the water had found a way into the gadgets?
So, the cost of the trip was Shambhu’s camera and all the Sony Ericsson phones (except mine, Jigar had Nokia) we had. Some of them are able to revive themselves while others are still to be brought back to life. So, the photographs are awaited till these gadgets start breathing again.

The Giant Waterfall: The scenario was like this. We are enjoying in a waterfall. Suddenly, we see another waterfall far away. A mutual decision to reach there. Hit that waterfall. Then the next and the next… Jharna evolved to be a falling girl (she didn’t miss any opportunity to slip, or fall), Nandita evolved to be a fish (she even lied down in one of the waterfalls), Trupti and Savita were quite cautious with their steps (thankfully!). In this scheme of things, we happened to hit a giant waterfall all set to mesh up anything that comes its way. The force was terrific and we could see the force increasing. Some of us sat at one of the slim legs of the waterfall but not for long. The water was hitting very hard at our backs. And it was so loud that we had to literally shout to make ourselves hear. There was a Vada-Pav, tea-coffee shop nearby this waterfall. It was so cold around that even a 50 Rs./tea cup won’t hurt you.

Serendipity: After enjoying this – one of the heaviest waterfalls around, we decided to come back to our cab. On the way, out of the excitement of exploring the place, we took a different route and kept moving until we discovered that we are lost. But the place where we were lost was such a beauty. Pristine it was! It was greener than the greenest and enclosed by a wire fence. The only disappointment was: Our camera had already been feasted upon by the cruel rains. So, couldn’t click the shots there :(

We did some calculations, listening to the voices of people shouting far away to figure out a way out of this scenic place. Somehow, we found our way back. I actually had my only fall of the trip on this way. Trying to be over smart, I thought of jumping over a small water stream while others followed a decent route. I jumped and landed on a rock which was not firm on the ground. The rock rolled over but the momentum took me forward (with a lost balance) only to make me fall in the mud. The ugly face of the fall: This was the only place till now, which didn’t have clear water. The group had a nice laugh on my fall. I would say I was lucky that we didn’t have the camera at that time, though Nandita managed to get some shots on her mobile while I was cleaning myself in the stream water.

Lost and Found: After conquering a series of waterfalls (one after the other) and Bushy Dam, we started towards the “Shooting Point”. We found “Amby Valley” and “Air Force Station” on the way but only Armed Forces personals are allowed to enter, so moved ahead. We got down at “Shooting Point” and left the cab on the road. We had moved just about 8-10 meters in the chilling wind without realizing what is following us. When we turned back, we found that our cab is lost, even the road was not visible. Such was the density of clouds. But again, the place with its ultimate beauty was just like a meadow. And we could realize its real beauty only when the clouds were carried away by the wind and there it spreads in front of us - the green expanse.

We climbed up, we climbed down, we shot, we slipped, we fell, we ran, we did all fun that we could in the beautiful space. Away from the project, away from the work, away form any kind of tension, it was a day.
We were completely drenched for 12 continuous hours. The funny thing, even if we (boys) had extra changing clothes with us, we didn’t feel like changing. We were in rains the whole time, so no point in changing clothes if you don’t have an umbrella. The girls in the group proved to be “the intelligent beings” (at least here) to get themselves changed and even had umbrellas.

The bad part: Such trips usually have some disappointing parts. But we didn't have any except that the driver of the Qualis was new to the routes and he didn’t have much knowledge about the places and the routes. Result – so many U-Turns. We had about 8-10 of them during the day. Time waste! U-turn is not just a U-turn; you also have to cover a section of route again. Result – Didn’t get enough time to visit Khandala.

On the way back, it was all Jharna and Nandita, the singing sensations of the group. These girls have the lyrics of each song by heart (along with the dance steps, of course), howsoever latest the song is. The talent is amazing.

We were back in Pune at around 10:30 PM. I still wet, entered my room at 11:30 PM. Had a bath, made myself banana shake, brushed my teeth and off to sleep at 12:10.

Special thanks to Shambhu that he was always ready with his money bank to buy the Vada-Pavs, tea-coffeee, pakodas, bhajjis or any other eatables, anytime, anywhere – on roads, inside the waterfalls, at the dam, the shooting point and all other places that I have missed. A twist here too: His wallet along with the money, the cards etc… was left with Jharna (in the protective bag) when she got down at her place and resultantly, Shambhu had to spend his Sunday sleeping and feeding on friend’s pockets :)

All in all, a memorable trip! My first from Pune and hence one of my best weekends here with a wonderful group of friends.

Highlights:
[1] Waterfalls – There are plenty
[2] Bushy Dam – Consisted of three waterfalls in itself.
[3] Shooting Point – Movies are shot here.
[4] Lions Point – Couldn’t see much because of very dense fog. Even the place was a little dirty because of a commercialization.
[5] Walvan Dam – The surrounding area is all gardens, though we couldn’t witness much because of the “Strictly Private…” notices.[6] The moment I took my feet off my shoes. What a moment man, really! My feet breathed like anything.

Points to remember (learning, as they say):
[1] Average expenditure per head if go by cab (from Pune): Rs 400
[2] Trekking shoes – Beware of the slippery rocks! You slip one, you slip all!
[3] Extra changing clothes plus towel
[4] Most Imp: Leave your mobile phones in the cab, if you really want to enjoy. If you are “I can’t live without my phone” types, have a water proof poly bag handy. The falls won’t show mercy to your costly gadgets and you know these electronic gadgets are too much water prone.

Thanks for dialing in. Stay tuned for the pics!