Road trippin'

There are a bunch of people on this planet who believe in living life meticulously, in making sure that whatever happens or whatever that is going to happen has been planned for and executed in that particular way. I don't know if that's a good thing to do or not to do. I can't even guage if it's a good bunch to belong to or not to. But I do know, that by default I fit into that category. I'm usually the kinds who plan my weekends on the friday either on my way to work or back from it. Again, by default, it just so happens that it goes to plan as well.

The weekend must've been the long diwali weekend. A jolly good 5 days (fri-tues) off the rigours of corporate life. As most others were, me too was looking forward to 5 days of peace, 5 days of lounging on my bed watching tv, eating chips and maybe stepping out to catch up on a few plays in town! Now comes the turning point, how mistaken was I? Sac, Sudi n' Ravinder were calling me for this road trip over and over again. I'd kinda made up my mind of not going for many a reason. One of them being this deep notion I had that trips not headed towards the coastline were not as much fun! Well, seems like I was mistaken on that one as well. As I sat pondering that sunday morning, I felt this desperate urge to just drop everything and gooooo. And goooo, I did...Trust GOD to give anyone friends like these. Our men had left town at 10:30 AM and were on the road to Tumkur, when I called them back and they duly obliged....So back home I was after sneaking out of class midway, picked up my back-pack, and there they were waiting, at my doorstep. I hoped on, and then we headed off again. Destination - Hampi.

A journey of 330 odd km was completed in about 5 hours. A beautiful road, 4 good friends, the sun beating down and a jolly ride in the awaiting. Reflecting back, I guess the road was the best part of the trip afterall, what with all 4 of us vying for the driver's seat each time. I ofcourse drove a good 130 odd km of the drive in about 90 mins (good speeds eh!) and felt mightly thrilled about it and after it as well. Hampi beckoned at about 6 PM. We entered the holy portals of this mortal town with the rays of the setting sun hitting us in the eye. Some amount of directionless driving ensured that we consumed an hour more before we reached the only hotel in town. A refreshing shower in the waters of the Tungabhadra i guess, and jeered up we were to give some much needed beer to the tummy!

Food afterall wasn't the best we've eaten in our lives, but nevertheless we relished it maybe because of the tiresome journey. Incidentally, we also managed to hook up with a guide for the next morning tour of the city. Up we were around 8 AM, a good healthy breakfast and with our guide and another very weird gujju family(!!!), off we went on our interior road trip...
It was an absolute pleasure to relive all those memories and bits and pieces of knowledge gained from our history books of the 8th and 9th std's. Whether it be the magnificient Vijaya Vithala temple, or the Queen's bath, the stepped tank or the Maharaja's palace, they all stood out in their enigmatic fervour. Our guide was a very well read man too, explaining in detail to us, all the intracacies of the place, the monuments, the architecture, the history, the craftwork et all. 5 hours round the town had us all soaked in the cultural spirit of Hampi. We bid goodbye to the fella at about 2PM and headed out not knowing where to go.

Alternating between the 4 of us in the car was the map of karnataka. It being monday evening and with tuesday a holiday, none of us were really keen on heading back home just yet it seemed. So we sat there racking our brains to find suitable spots on that small li'l map as the guy at the wheel continued to rip at 100K/hr going where the road took him! Sadly for us, we'd landed up a place much in the central - east side of karnataka where apart from Hampi, there just didn't seem anything else worthwhile. With the next nearest getaway being a good 300K more towards the coastline, guess we unanimously called it off and headed back on the Bangalore highway.
A flat tyre added to the time consuming process, a good stop for lunch at a road side dhaba at 4PM and back we were on the journey home. Another beautiful and much treasured drive brought us back to our abode on the stroke of midnight bringing the curtains down on another memorable trip I've undertaken.
Well, with the whole thing done, there was surely one common thought running in all four of our heads, "These kinda road trips are much called for on a much more regular basis !!!"

Cheers boys, to Hampi's rich culture.....