Mumbai — Kanyakumari — Mumbai | 22 Dec 2023–02 Jan 2024
Day 0: Friday 22nd December 2023
1:30 pm, 3 hours before the trip
Ishaan and I had just reached home from school. We were both very excited about our Christmas vacation and the family road trip that Papa had planned. Papa wanted to drive all the way down to Kamyakumari — the southern most tip of India. Dada — my grandfather — who loves traveling had a long wishlist of places that he wanted to see. My mother and Dadi (my grandmother) were trying their best to squeeze in a few rest days. Ishaan and I were excited about the holiday but did not know exactly what to expect.
Our immediate plan on reaching home was to relax, watch some television, have lunch, do a lot of “timepass”, and then slowly start packing in the evening and then have an early night. Papa had said we would leave at 3 in the morning ! And we knew the trip was going to be a “crazy one” when Papa came and told us that to beat the traffic, we were to leave at 3pm instead of 3 am ! We were very surprised but those who know my father would say this was not the time to ask questions ;). We quickly showered, packed our suitcases, grabbed lunch, packed some more and some more, and were all set in 2 hours.
3:15pm, an hour before leaving:
We were packing last minute knick-knacks like phone chargers, shoes , tooth brushes , combs , snacks etc. The excitement was rising. Mumma had asked us to keep the house clean so when we came back it would feel good. Now that was a difficult one :D. So we were rushing a bit as we were running late .
15 min before leaving :
We were packing some first aid, while Mumma and Papa were taking stock of the final luggage count. With Dada, Dadi it was six of us in our 7 seater car. So we had to travel light, as we had only one seat and very little boot space to pack our stuff. Mumma was finding the house keys and Papa sent Ishaan and me downstairs with the luggage to start loading them into the car . We loaded the car — it was less of a struggle than we expected — and then waited for a bit. And waited. And waited for what in our excitement felt like an hour !
Journey starts : 4:15 pm
Finally all the adults came to the car. Finding the house keys had turned out to be a treasure hunt for them — story for another day. Finally we all got into the car and screamed our customary “Ganpati Bappa Moraya”. I was so excited.
6:15 pm:
We were both now wide awake and listening to music and having lots of fun .Ishaan and I played Ludo on our IPad and Ishaan won (ouch !). We had just now boarded Mumbai -Pune highway . We were scheduled for a small pit stop at seven but our final destination for today would be Kolhapur, and the Google Maps said we would reach our destination by around 10:30pm.
8:40pm:
We were now quite bored. Ishaan and I had played more games than I could count. While @ some of the mountain views were beautiful, we all wanted to go out and stretch a bit. Dada said that we were currently in Pune and were going to stop for dinner somewhere soon. We were all a bit tired, the Pune traffic made matters worse, but the journey continued.
9:30pm — Dinner:
Finally we stopped for dinner at a nice “Dhaba”. It was quite cold outside and we had to wear jackets — a welcome change for us Mumbaikars. The food was so warm and inviting and smelt good too. That night I thought the food was one of the best that I have ever had. Maybe on a different day it would have felt average but then if you are really very hungry then any food seems delicious. We got back in the car at 10:15 and before we knew it, Ishaan and I had fallen asleep.
1:00 am:
It was 1 am! And we were checking into a hotel ! Since it was a road trip, our parents had decided not to make any prior bookings, and plan things as we travel. Apparently the traffic post dinner had been slow, and they decided to stop at a place called Karad. It was very late. As we checked in, one of our rooms got upgraded to a suite. The suite was huge .It had a living room a balcony a king sized bed and a cot. What a pleasant surprise at the end of a long day. All of us were very tired and just headed to bed. I shared the suite with my grandparents. Ishaan was sleepier than me, and couldn’t care less :)
Day 0 Notes : Distance traveled 308 km, Night stay : Karad, Maharashtra
Day 1: Saturday 23rd December 2023
Next Morning :
We all woke up early, around 7 am, and got ready for the road ahead. We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. In the morning sun, with my fresh mind, I registered that the place was called “Pankaj Residency”. The hot dosas and idlis were marvelous. We also had hot chai and coffee and by 8:30 am we were again on the road. Papa wanted to drive to a sea beach called Murudeshwar today and spend the night there.
2 hours later :
We were all having so much fun in the car. It was a lovely bright day. Ishaan and I played so many games like ludo , snakes and ladders etc. We stopped once for getting water, juices,chips. The music was awesome.
3:30 pm:
We were now in Karnataka! It was 3:30pm right now. We could see some changes such as signs Kannad. There were very few tall buildings and skyscrapers now. There were so many coconut trees all around. and then we were driving through the very beautiful Dandeli forest. It felt like we were like the only ones there. We opened the sunroof and enjoyed the powerful breeze and pleasant weather.
3 more hours later:
There was much debate on whether we should stop to enjoy the sunset of drive on to Murudeshwar. Finally the adults decided in favor of the sunset. We stepped into the beach of Gokarna. The water was so cold in the evening. The beach was huge, beautiful but very crowded. The sun was setting. As we watched the sun go down, it felt very scenic and blissful despite the crowds around. The beach got busier just after the sunset. We rushed and got out by 8. Mumma by now had searched up a place for us to stay for the night. It was in a small town called Kumta near Murudeshwar. We headed for our “River edge resort” where we were going to stay for the night.
At the resort:
We were tired by the time we got to the resort. Much to our delight, it had some lovely music playing and a nice bonfire. There was a beautiful garden right next to the river. Another family at the resort had the most adorable golden retriever named Star that we played. It was the best way to end a long day. The dinner at the resort took time and was served only by 10:30. We used the time to play with Star, and also play Uno. We had a nice dinner it was almost midnight by the time we went to bed. Tomorrow morning we planned to go to Murudeshwar.
Day 1 Notes : Distance traveled 397 km, Night stay : Kumta, Karnataka
Day 2: Sunday 24th December 2023
Morning:
We all slept very well, and surprisingly despite the late night we all woke up at 6am and were ready to leave the resort by 7:00 ! But not before we clicked the many photos that all turned out beautiful in the bright morning sun. By 8am we reached the famous Murudeshwar temple in Murudeshwar. It was HUGE ! A 21 storeyed temple !! And there was a towering statue of Lord Shiva that we could see from a distance. We roamed the gardens and clicked a lot of pictures. The Murudeshwar beach was also very scenic. Ishaan and I were most thrilled when we stopped at a nice cafe in the temple complex for breakfast and relished my cold coffee with icecream and Ishaan had an Oreo milkshake. The restaurant also served sugar cubes with the coffee that the adults were having. We happily pocketed those for the journey ahead.
Few Hours Later:
The roads were scenic ! Ocean on one side and coconut trees lined alongsie the other. We stopped at a chai stall for a break. There was a beautiful beach nearby and there was hardly anyone there .We all went and sat enjoying the peace. We took pics in different poses and enjoyed. Later we realised that it was the “Maravanthe Beach Road, Udupi”, one of the most beautiful coastal roads of Karnataka.
Late Afternoon — Kerala:
When we reached Kerala — I don’t know exactly when the state changed — there was a change. Signages in Malayalam (language of kerela). When we stopped at a store, very few people spoke Hindi or English and communication was a slight problem. Many people were in lungi’s and there were coconut trees EVERYWHERE. And strangely every third shop seemed to be one selling lottery tickets ! I had never seen these. We wanted to buy one, but later decided to just move on. Covid 19 was still there and most people were wearing masks. As we neared Mangalore, Papa said that he had been here, and that there was a famous ice cream called “Gadbad” icecream. That became our next stop.
Gadbad Ice Cream Shop:
Gadbad icecream shop was almost like a slice out of Willy Wonka’s dream land. Its theme was eating mixed icecreams, many flavors together with different toppings and unique names. The menu was so attractive. During the drives, we generally did not have lunch. We started with a heavy breakfast and then a good dinner at a restaurant. We usually stopped for a light snack in the evening.The icecream was our snack and one of the 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 snacks ever ! The mix of icecream was too good ! It just felt so refreshing in the heat.
Bekal Beach:
After the beautiful sunset at Gokarna, we all again wanted to see the sunset by the sea. There is something magical about that moment. As we asked around, we were told that there was a beach festival nearby with the famous singer “Chitra” who would be performing there. We reached Bekal Beach fest at around 6. It was a huge festival with rides like rollercoaster , zipline, ferris wheels, etc. And many water sports such as banana boat, water ski , scuba diving and many food stalls, game stalls ,shops, shows,performances and much more. It was one of the biggest festivals ever and since we were in a small town it was the center of attention and thus very crowded. We had a good time there. We went in the water and did some rides. Ishaan even had one of those potato spirals snacks. When we started the trip Papa had said that the best thing about road trips is that it is not pre-planned and you can “do your thing. Now I understood what that meant.
Night Stay:
My parents wanted to halt around Kannur. Here, in Kerala there were surprisingly fewer hotels than what we had seen earlier. Home stays seemed to be more popular here (basis my mother’s constant Googling as we drove). We found a home stay in Kannur next to the Payyabalam beach. The houses here were huge and population was significantly less. We got some dinner packed on the way as it was Christmas eve and most places were shutting. Our room turned out to be spacious and nice, and close to the beach. So our Christmas eve of 2023 was spent happily as one family eating a quiet meal in a room in Kannur and listening to the sound of waves. dinner and going to sleep by one as we had an early morning the next day. I smiled that night as I thought that I had slept in a new state every night for the last three nights.
Day 2 Notes : Distance traveled 339 km, Night stay : Kannur, Kerala
Day 3: Monday 25th December 2023
🅜🅔🅡🅡🅨 🅒🅗🅡🅘🅢🅣🅜🅐🅢
The Morning:
Long drives somehow had turned us into early risers. We all woke up at 5:45am and again were out of the homestay by 7:00. Our homestay hosts were very warm and served us morning tea, and guided us to the nearby beach. The beach was looking amazingly beautiful so early in the morning. It felt like a private beach. We were literally the only ones there. The beach wasn’t polluted,dirty crowded or anything. It was beautiful — just as God had painted it. And the sun looked AMAZING. We had a drive ahead. So we resisted the temptation to bathe in the sea. We dipped our feet in the soft waves, clicked enough and more pictures as always, and then we were back on the road again. It was Christmas, and so most shops were closed this morning. We managed to find a small shop for breakfast at 11:30am ! In Kerala there are a lot of bakeries, and they sell fried bananas, chicken cutlets, egg chops and more. We had some for breakfast with chai and biscuits. Dada happily got us a lot of chips and some drinks for the journey.
The Drive:
Today we had a LONG 12hr journey to Alleppey. After the late breakfast, we skipped lunch and directly stopped at 4pm for a snack. In the car I read one of my favorite murder books (One of us is lying), played many games like antakshari and wrote some of this blog. As we neared Cochin, we saw huge Chinese fishing nets in the back waters. This was scenic and new. They were controlled by people like claw machines and caught masses of fish at one go. The roads were beautiful and we had lots of fun looking out of the sunroof and enjoying the breeze.
The Church:
As we crossed Cochin, we spotted a beautiful church from the sunroof. It looked beautiful, and we stopped. I think it was the first time I had been in a church and it was so pretty. The church was over 200yrs old. There were stained glass paintings on the windows depicting stories from the Bible. The nativity scene was beautifully done up, and the wooden carvings were mind blowing too.
The Restaurant:
Bookings in Alleppey were turning out to be quite a challenge. Mumma found a homestay at Kollam (further south of Alleppey). We were to stay here tonight, and the homestay host was arranging for a houseboat the night after. We were hungry and on the phone he recommended a local eatery for authentic Kerala food. We stopped at Fayalwal restaurant for dinner at around 9pm. It seemed to be a fairly old and popular restaurant and the warm food after a long day felt good. The service was very quick. They served something called “goli-sodas” — soft drinks in bottles that had marbles inside them. The design was made in the 1900s and the cap was the marble. The drink is to be opened the marble is pushed inside the bottle. The design was cool and gave an ancient feeling even if it was a bit dangerous. We also enjoyed some malabar parathas and kerala style chicken.
The Kayalpuram Homestay:
The home stay was a delight — a true christmas delight after a looooong day. Our wooden floored warm room overlooked the backwaters. There was a houseboat right next to the room, and a garden outside. The ultimate delight was however the treehouse that gave a beautiful view of the bck waters. We enjoyed a quiet peaceful hour in the night surrounded by coconut trees and the tranquil waters.
Day 3 Notes : Distance traveled 408 km, Night stay : Kollam, Kerala
Day 4: Tuesday 26th December 2023
A blissful morning:
Finally we slept in and had a lazy morning. I woke up around 8:30am, and Ishaan and I just sat outside in the sun staring into the backwaters. The service manager at the homestay (also a neighbour of the property owner) went fishing in the morning. Papa bought some fresh prawns from him when he came back. We sat in the garden and relished the nice, home cooked breakfast of dosa, appam, chutneys and a south Indian chana sabzi that was delicious. The lady in the kitchen also fried the prawns and we had them for breakfast. It was delicious. We went up to the tree house and spent some time there too and felt we could just live there forever. We would be spending tonight in Kollam in a houseboat, so there was no long drive today. This felt strange and good at the same time.
A blip to start the day:
Our first stop today would be the Jatayu Earth Centre. Dada was very excited about this visit. The statue was in memory of Jatayu from Ramayana. Jatayu was said to have fallen in the exact spot where the statue was built . The center had a ropeway to the statue, and I was excited about this. We enjoyed the short scenic drive to the location and enjoyed the cool breeze from the sun roof. However when we reached the ticket counter, we learnt that the ropeway had been closed for the day due to the strong winds. The only other way to reach the top was to climb 800 steps through a very sunny terrain. With other plans for rest of the day, Papa and Dada decided to continue with the journey. We were disappointed to be so close and yet so far from the statue.
Backwaters:
Our next stop was at the Munroe Island. This is a hidden pearl in the backwaters of Kerala. It has a cluster of 60 islands, all separated by small water channels and lakes. Harris, our homestay host, had arranged for a very pretty boat for our ride in the backwaters. The boat had a bed in the centre, seats all around, and a small open sun deck that one could sit on. We spent the next two hours relaxing in the beautiful backwaters and enjoying the breeze. We saw the mangroves, and our guide showed us that that one could also climb them ! I gently climbed onto the mangrove, placing my feet gingerly, only to realise that it was a lot of fun ! Soon Ishaan, Papa, Dada and Mumma followed. As always, we spent a lot of time here clicking several pictures.What a wonderful experience.
Houseboat:
Kerala is famous for houseboats. from the adult conversations and the time spent in arranging one, it seemed that in our trip the houseboat stay was going to be the highlight. We had rented a full houseboat just for our selves along with a chef and two house helpers to stay this night. So while I wanted to stay back in Munroe Island, I was also excited about this. We boarded the houseboat at 6pm . The house boat was like a house in the water. I could feel the rocking of the water and the rooms were so pretty. The house boat had 2 bedrooms,2 bathrooms and a living room on the deck along with a kitchen. We once again cruised through the backwaters in the houseboat and enjoyed the view until sunset. We all then played some games and waited for dinner to be served.The dinner spread was amazing. We were served freshly fried karimeen fish, stir fried prawns, some vegetables, kerala style chicken curry along with rice and roti. Our dinners had become a thing to look forward to, and I totally loved the meal. We had an early night, so we could wake up for the sunrise the next morning.
Day 4 Notes : Distance traveled — hardly any, Night stay : Houseboat, Kollam, Kerala
Day 5: Wednesday 27th December 2023
The Big Day Begins!
The morning sunrise from the houseboat on the Ashtamudi Lake was mesmerizing. While we clicked pictures, none were as beautiful as what we saw with our eyes. Calm, serene, beautiful — words cannot describe the moment. And then we were served fresh breakfast of pineapple and idli ,chutney, sambar and coffee. What a way to start the day when we were finally suposed to reach Kanyakumari, but not without several halts prior to that. Post breakfast, we packed and got off the boat by 10am. Papa was dressed in a shirt and white “mund” , as we were to visit a temple today.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivandrum
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of the most famous temples in Kerala, both because of its grandeur and its riches. The temple has several chambers that have not been opened in hundreds of years. Just 4 years ago one of the chambers was opened and more than a lakh-crore was found in the form of gold satutues ,rubies, diamonds, jewelry and many more such treasures! To enter the temple, one has to wear Indian traditional clothes. Mumma was carrying clothes for us. I changed into a lehenga. Papa got a “lungi” for Ishaan, and when he changed, he looked adorable and funny at the same time. The temple was very crowded but it wasn’t hot. We had to be in queue for over 3hours. W caught some glimpses of what was probably rooms full of treasures. At the final darshan, I think I saw a gold statue of the deity with jewels of different colours. But it was dark, and the place was crowded, so I was not too sure. And of course everything was put behind bars and security was very high. Once we came out, our feet burned as we raced towards our shoes, and were only relieved when we were in the car for the final lap to our final destination, the southern most point of India: Kanyakumari !
The Drive to Kanyakumari
Kanyakumari — our final destination. The last mile from Trivandrum in Kerala to KanyaKumari in Tamil Nadu was about 100km and it would take us 2 and a half hrs.And thus our final lap began. We stopped after an hour for a pit stop at the Kovalam beach. It is said to be THE best beach in India. And when we saw it, we knew why. It was indeed so clean, the sand was so white and the water so clear. Its a beautiful holiday destination in itself. However, we had to keep going. Ishaan had a five layered ice-cream in the scorching heat. It kept melting, and I think its the fastest that I have seen him have an ice cream. After a bit of stretching, we were off again.
Kanyakumari
We did it ! We finally reached Kanyakumari — the southern most tip of my country, where the oceans meet, where the great Swami Vivekananda had visited, where all you can see the sun rise and the sun set from the same point ! Yes, we did it ! This is exactly how each of us felt when Papa parked the car at the sunset point in Kanyakumari. We had traveled a total distance of 1656km and 28hrs in the car in 5days. We all felt a sense of achievement. The sunset was picturesque — a clear sky, and the sun slowly dipped into the ocean as we marvelled at nature’s beauty. We next left to see Thiruvalluvar Statue, nearby. This statue located in the ocean standing 41meters tall and with all three oceans mixing beneath it.It is said to be the lowest point one can go. We could spot the Vivekananda rock memorial beyond it. This place was more crowded, and I was glad that we had enjoyed the sunset peacefully at the earlier viewpoint. The sea breeze however made the experience very enjoyable, despite the crowds. After a brief stroll and some shopping, we went to check-in to our hotel.
Night:
Our hotel was nice and cozy, just what we needed. For days like today, we did not want a very grand hotel since we would reach the hotel post dinner, and check out early morning. Once we checked in and dropped our luggage in the room, we headed out for dinner. The receptionist directed us to a nearby lane that had a number of restaurants. Funnily the restaurant that we went to was called the “Apple restaurant” and it served us great biriyani, tandoori rotis and aloo fry, with no apple garnishing or flavorings, much to my relief. And with that, one milestone had been achieved, and half the trip was done !
Day 5 Notes : Distance traveled — 154 km, Night stay : Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
Day 6: Thursday, 28th December 2023
6:30am — A Sun rise to remember
We got up very early — I think 5:30 am — to catch the sunrise. The day dawned around 6:30, and to watch the sun come out from the clouds in between the statues of Thiruvallur and the Rock Memorial was a sight to remember. it would probably have been nicer if it was less crowded.
7:00 am — The queue
We were told that to get to the rock memorial, we had to be in a queue from 7am while the ticket counters would open only at 9am. So, after the sun rise, while Papa and Dada went to figure out the queue, we went back to the hotel to pack up and check out.
8:30 am — The shock
We had completed the formalities at the hotel, loaded the luggage in the car and had joined Papa and Dada in the long queue for tickets to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. A boat would take us to the island and would take maximum 30 people at a time. And then ! The murmurs and questions began, that soon became louder and sounded more definite. Due to the very windy weather (not again! yes again!) the boats to the Rock Memorial had been canceled for the day. After the Jatayu Earth centre heartbreak, this was a shocker for us. We shopped at the local stores for spices and little giveaways to make us feel better, I guess. And then, with nothing more to do, we decided to start the journey back. Our destination for the night would be Coimbatore.
3:00pm — Reading the charts
We had an estimated 8hour journey today, and we had started at 10am. Today we were sitting in the car slightly different today. Usually we kids would take the back seat in our 7-seater Tata Safari car. Today Papa needed some rest, and in the afternoon when Dada was driving, I sat in the front next to him, while Mumma went in the back with Ishaan. I was navigating and reading the map, while Dada was driving the car for the first time. I was navigating for the first time and it was easy and fun, the only challenge was that I could not use the sunroof during the beautiful stretches. I was also the DJ and kept playing some nice peppy English songs before I was asked to play Old Hindi movie songs. We skipped lunch, finished off the fruits and other snacks in the car during the afternoon.
7:15pm — The Moment
We had taken a small break about an hour back for fuel and snacks. Now, after reaching Coimbatore, Papa had dropped us the the entrance of Isha Ashram and gone to park the car. We could see the massive bust of Lord Shiva in front. It was magnificent. We started walking towards it, and just when we were about 200 metres away, the lights went off. It was pitch dark, and the light and sound show began. That moment it felt as if they were waiting for us to start the show. It was a beautiful work of light and lasers on the huge statue of Shiv ji. The show was for about 20 minutes or so. Later we went nearer and saw the deity from a closer proximity.The Aadi Yogi statue is one of the biggest statues in India and it was glowing in the the light. This was definitely one of my most unique experiences on the trip so far.
10:00pm — The Dinner
By the time we reached the hotel we were famished, and I knew I would enjoy the food even before it had arrived. We had vegetarian Chinese food that night, and yes, I loved it ! We later checked into the very spacious and called it a day.
Day 6 Notes : Distance traveled — 450 km, Night stay : Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Day 7: Friday, 29th December 2023
Isha Ashram
We woke up at 7am to leave for Isha Ashram. The Ashram was a meditation and yoga center.It was an extremely peaceful and quiet place. Speaking loudly was not allowed in the ashram. People were only supposed to talk in whispers. There were two ponds, Suryakund and Chandrakund where we could bathe (what Papa did) or just dip our feet in (what we did). We then went to a place called the Dhyanalingam, where without effort they said, visitors go into a state of meditation. Here we had to sit and in absolute silence close our eyes and meditate. Speaking or making any noise was forbidden. I closed my eyes and almost immediately fell asleep. I was in very deep sleep when a bell rang and I woke up with a jerk. Ishaan and Papa were wide awake the whole time, while Dada and dadi were in a deep trance sitting absolutely straight with closed eyes and focusing. After the week of long drives, travel and fun, the meditation though short felt very refreshing.
The drive to Coonoor
After a nice quiet morning, the tea gardens of Coonoor , about 70km from Coimbatore was our next destination. This would be the coldest place on the trip. While going there, we drove up long winding roads and it started drizzling along the way. Heavy mist made it hard to see. We could not see more that 20meters ahead of us. The weather was a drastic change and in a way suprising. Very few cars were present on the road. There were several monkeys along the way and we had fun looking at their expressions. We stopped at a small roadside stall that was selling Maggi and chai — the perfect comfort food for such weather.
Sunvalley Homestay, Coonoor
A narrow winding road led us to our homestay in Coonoor. The place was definitely, without doubt, the best on our trip. Our room overlooked the private tea estate of the owners. The lush green tea gardens against the blue skies was a sight to behold. As we settled into our room, Papa and Dada went out to explore the town. Mumma and Dadi went for ayurvedic massages, and Ishaan and I stayed in the hotel room watching Netflix. After days of limited screen time, this did feel nice. All our dinners on the trip had been nice. So I did not expect much when we went to the dining hall for dinner. But it turned out to be excellent. The staff were nice and courteous, and got extra ice creams for Ishaan and me. The buffet spread had a nice variety across Gobi Manchurian, Chilli chicken, Kerala parathas, chicken curry, payasam and more. This was THE best dinner in our entire trip.
Day 7 Notes : Distance traveled — 70 km, Night stay : Coonoor, Tamil Nadu
Day 8: Saturday, 30th December 2023
Tea Gardens:
Lying in bed, I saw the sun rise and welcome us to a bright sunny. The hosts arranged for a Jeep to take us for a drive around the tea estate. We went across the valleys admiring the lush green gardens around. And suddenly the driver stopped! A “mother” bison with her child were on the road. Bisons are wild bulls but bigger. They usually charge if they feel they are in danger. Our driver looked surprised and asked us to be very quiet. We silently waited for the bison to get off the road.And then in high speed our driver drove us away to another area. Phew! Further down we saw many more bison grazing in the tea garden. At a safe view point, we stopped for photos and take in the views.
Breakfast:
As we got back to the hotel, the staff very warmly invited us to the balcony next to the dining hall for fresh sit-down breakfast. They served us a mouthwatering spread, course by course. Idlis, puri, sabzi, breads, eggs,a lot more. They also served us a warm herbal water that they said helps tourists with digestion in the cold weather of Coonoor. We relished the breakfast amidst nature, seeing the clouds fly by as we sipped on the hot sambar.
Bandipur Safari:
After a leisurely morning, it was again time to move on. We would now be headed towards Hampi, but knew that we would need to halt somewhere for the night. Today we drove through some dense forests called the Mudumalai forest in TamilNadu The same forest extended till Karnataka and was called Bandhipur forest here. The forests in some stretches had dense pines. At one of the check points we were told that only certified drivers could drive through the road ahead. Papa hired a driver, and we later realised that the road had 36 sharp hair pin turns ! It was one quiet, scenic but scary stretch. Alongside the road there were signages that announced the number of deaths in this stretch per year !! The Bandipur stretch of the forest turned out to be a happier journey. We saw countless deer on road side, and some even crossed the road in front of us. At Bandipur, we halted, and went for a jungle safari in a bus. We spotted more bison, many species of deer, a huge monitor lizard and more.
Chamundi Hills:
After the safari we headed towards Mysore. Mysore was the place where my father had his first job. He had stayed in Mysore for 2 yrs and much to my surprise, knew a bit of Kannad. This helped us a lot when we stopped at a local store and asked for directions. We reached the Chamundi hills in Mysore at 7pm. Papa had fond memories of a quiet hill top with a small temple. He realised that the place had changed a lot and become a major tourist spot. There were lots shops, long queues for the Chamundi Devi Mandir and even a very organised multi-floor parking area. It was getting dark, and we were a bit tired after the hot afternoon safari in Bandipur. We did not spend much time on the hill top, and soon were again on the road.
Happy Dinners:
Ishaan and I slept blissfully in the car, I don’t know for how long. Suddenly I realised Dada was waking us up, Papa was still driving and the car smelled delicious. I knew this familiar smell, and so did Ishaan ! Yet again dinner was a pleasant surprise. Papa — Mumma had picked some takeaways from KFC so that they could keep driving while we had dinner in the car ! Yummyyy ! burgers and chicken. was We woke up around 10'oclock for dinner in the car eating KFC. It was nice eating fast food after days of authentic south Indian food. The food did its magic, and we again fell asleep again. That night we checked into a hotel at Tumkur at 1am !
Day 8 Notes : Distance traveled — 300+ km, Night stay : Tumkur, Karnataka
Day 9: Sunday, 31st December 2023
Chitradurga Fort
Having studied about the Vijaynagar Empire in history in school, I was excited about Hampi. Papa already knew a tourist guide in Hampi who helped us discover a place called Chitradurga nearby and suggested we visit it on our way to Hampi. So we stopped here. It was a small town, and as we looked around for some breakfast joints, we found a food stall selling fried rice with eggs and fried chicken at ten in the morning! This was the first time I had eaten rice for breakfast but it was good all the same. Post breakfast, we reached the famous Chitradurgs fort. Our guide at the fort named Khan, who told us all about the fort.The fort was built in between the 11th and 13th centuries by the rulers of the region. The Nayakas of Chitradurga, were most responsible for the expansion of the fort between the 15th and 18th centuries. The fort was later captured by Hyder Ali. Eventually the British forces defeated his son Tipu Sultan and took over the fort. The fort is built in a series of seven circular walls with various passages, , warehouses for grains and oil, water reservoirs and ancient temples. There are 18 temples in the upper fort and one huge temple in the lower fort. The fort had many interconnected water tanks that were used to harvest rainwater, and the fort was said to never suffer from a water shortage. The fort was beautiful and interesting.The stones that here were naturally shaped like animals (frogs, crocodiles, rabbit etc), and got the fort its name — Chitradurga. “Chitra” meaning pictures (of animals) and”Durg” meaning fort. We saw a “real spiderman” — a person who could climb the fort walls with no ropes. Once atop the fort, it was breezy and the view was breathtaking.
Kishkindha, Hampi
As we set off from Chitradurga, we knew we would reach reach Hampi by around 4pm. On the way we researched and learnt that there are two parts to Hampi — the historically important ruins, and the mythologically important areas. Our guide had advised that we visit the mythological sites today. Kishkindha Nagri referred to in Ramayana is in Hampi, and the place is home to Hanuman Ji’s birth place, the caves of Bali and Sabari. We saw the sites. Walking through Bali’s cave was fun, and true to the stories the place was indeed full of langoors and monkeys. The entire place was full of very large boulder like rocks that looked reddish golden in the light of the setting sun. Our hotel had suggested that we could visit the Tungabhadra dam’s light and sound show in the evening. Being New Year’s eve, we did not want to retire early and decided to go the dam. But oh damn ! We got terribly lost on the way and Google maps was definitely not tested in Hampi. We asked around and someone guided us to a dam, and it turned out to be a different dam with no light and sound show ! Well, we decided to just head to our hotel. Our hotel was large. We had rooms with king sized beds and bat tubs ! We were so tired that we decided to first grab dinner and then get to our rooms. Ishaan post dinner enjoyed a hot bath while Mumma, Dadi and I curled up and read books. Dada was catching up on messages and calls on his phone and Papa was planning our day for tomorrow. And in a quiet and cosy way, together we ushered in 2024 .
Day 9 Notes : Distance traveled — 274 km, Night stay : Hampi, Karnataka
Day 10: Monday, 1st January 2024
🅷🅰🅿🅿🆈 🅽🅴🆆 🆈🅴🅰🆁
In the morning :
Post breakfast, we left to explore Hampi around 8:30 in the morning. Our guide, Nagraj, explained things really well. The joke for us this new year was to keep wishing whoever called, a very “Hampi New Year” ! Well, this morning, as we neared the ruins, we learnt that only electric vehicles were allowed here to protect the monuments. Nagraj guided us to one that took us to the Vitthala Temple Complex. It was a beautiful temple with 56 musical pillars inside and many carvings and inscriptions. It was fun when Nagaraj tried to show us the way the musical pillars made sounds of different musical instruments. Looking at the grandeur of the ruins, one could only but imagine the scale and magnificence during the peak reign of King Krishna Deva Raya. Here, we also saw the Garud Rath, a chariot made in the times of King Krishna Deva Raya to mark his victory over Odissa. Nagraj pointed out that this same chariot is now printed on the Indian 50 rupee note.
We next went to the Queen’s palace, the Lotus Mahal. We first saw what used to be a swimming pool for queens that lived in the palace. It was huge ! Then we visited the palace gardens and elephant stables. There were many other smaller structures all around that narrated stories of a golden era in Indian history.
Nagraj took us to a local thali place for a short lunch break.
After Lunch:
We went for a little shopping in a local handicraft shop.It had souvenirs, made from banana leaves and more. Around 3pm, it was less hot outside and we ventured out again. Nagraj remarked that Hampi has two seasons — summer and hot summer ! Hampi has a number of monolithic structures — large statues carved out from single pieces of stoner. We saw a Narsimha statue — an avatar of Vishnu. Next we visited a Shivling . This was the third largest shivling in the world with a height of 13 meters. The shivling stood in a little pond of water. We learnt that there was a myth that if u flip a coin from afar and it lands on top of the shivling then the wish will be fulfilled; if it lands near the base then the chances of the wish coming true is 50:50 and if it lands in water your wish won’t be fulfilled. You can keep guessing where mine landed. We next sae the final monolithic structure — a huge Ganpati. There were apparently two statues of Ganpati — a large one, the one we saw, meant for royalty; and another smaller one for common people.
Finally we headed to the Virupaksha temple — a beautiful temple. I had seen the pictures in our hotel reception earlier in the morning. The temple was tall and golden. Thankfully Nagraj led us through a way where we were able to avoid the crowds. Inside the temple garbhagriha, interestingly, there was a pinhole camera that reflected an inverted image of the temple gate onto the wall. To think that such a thing would have been built over 7 centuries back is mind boggling. The temple also had an official “temple elephant” — yes, a real elephant — that was blessing people only when they gave a donation to the mahawat :)
TB Dam:
After the Virupaksha temple visit, we bid farewell to Nagraj. Our trip with that was coming to an end. But we still had one place to visit — we had to find the Tungabhadra Dam that we missed yesterday. Today Nagraj had shared more detailed instructions, and also educated us that locally it was known as the “TB Dam”.
To reach the view point of TB Dam, we had to park our car and take the official bus ride to the top. We watched the sun set and noticed the river and the dam. The river was wide, almost looked like the ocean. And it was definitely the biggest dam that I have ever seen.
We then took the bus ride back to a garden inside. The garden also had a small amusement park where Ishaan and I enjoyed a few rides before returning to our hotel.
Dinner:
Tonight the hotel did not have a set menu for dinner, and we could order ala carte in their fine dining low seating restaurant. The food took time, but was worth the wait. We once again enjoyed a lavish spread with kebabs, soups, desserts and more.
Day 10 Notes : Distance traveled — hardly any, Night stay : Hampi, Karnataka
Final Day 11: Tuesday, 2nd January 2024
A Long Drive to end a Long Road Trip
Today would be a long day. We knew this even before we started. We left the hotel after a nice breakfast, almost like a brunch. Mumma drove the car for a bit today, and she was surprisingly quite good with it. There was some confusion initially with the route to be taken. Papa was driving, and Mumma navigated us to a road that was not initially planned. This was NH 50. Destiny had saved the best road for the longest drive. The road was smooth, wide and we could spot a lot of windmills on this road. Dada drove a lot this morning — for over 300 km. We paused only late afternoon for some tea and snacks. No one wanted to eat heavy on a long journey. Late afternoon Papa started driving and we got stuck in some very heavy traffic near Pune. Finally when we crossed Pune, we knew we would most probably tonight would be the night when we reach home. We stopped at Lonavla for dinner. There was a mall on the expressway that was just like any of the large food courts in Mumbai and probably larger, with very swanky restrooms. Needless to say, we were thrilled. We all chose our dinner to end the trip — we had burgers, adults had some chhole bhature and sandwiches.
Finally after 12 days and traveling 4050km, we reached home at 11 to a very clean home. A moment where I was glad that we had cleaned up when we left.
The long drive today had given me a lot of time to reflect, reminisce and recollect. This also helped me compile this narrative as well. It gave each of us a sense of achievement as we realised that we had spent 11 nights across 9 cities with no pre bookings. We had experienced beaches, campsites, bon fires, houseboats, tea gardens, forests, historical locations, temples and so much more. Let me not even get started about our dinners. And we had spent so much time together as a family ! If this trip is any indicator of times to come, we have an exciting new year ahead. I hope you too have a great happy new year — oops, I mean a “Hampi New Year” !
Till next time,
Cheers, Shubhi