It was a new experience for hubby and myself, going for a drive by ourselves. A long drive with greenery on both sides and a fresh breeze for company is a perfect plan for a Sunday. Being a late riser given an opportunity, such a drive has been put on the back burner for a while. But that wasn't the case last Sunday. After a whole day of classes at IIMB on Saturday, I woke up at 5:30 AM on a cold Sunday to hit the road. By the time, I had my cup of tea at my usual slow pace, reading the newspaper and then getting ready and having breakfast, it was close to 8:30 when we actually started the trip. Traffic wasn't bad as we expected on a Sunday morning. The iPod was playing the most appropriate song for a drive "Ennai konjam maatRi" from "kaaka kaaka".
After crossing the KR Puram junction, to our surprise, the road was covered by fog and there was very little visibility. On the single lane NH4 highway, there were impatient lorry drivers and private bus drivers who tried to overtake and over-speed at every possible opportunity. Slowly, the fog gave way to sun rays and the green fields and rocky mountains came to the limelight. It's a scenic highway with lots of trees around. We reached Kolar around 10:15 and then had to take a right turn towards Kotilingeshwara temple (our intended destination). The road wasn't good at many stretches and there were too many potholes to manouvre around.
We reached the temple at 11.15 and had a quick darshan. We then roamed around to admire the thousands of idols spread around the temple premises. I don't think the count has reached a crore yet as planned. A refreshing piece of cucumber gave the much needed relief from the heat. My stomach had already started growling and we wanted to head to Woodys for lunch. Because of a shopkeeper's poor direction sense, we drove down inside the town of Kolar in such narrow roads for 10 kms when we could have easily drove another 3 kms on the highway towards Chennai to reach Woodys. An ordinary lunch tasted so good that we gobbled in 15 minutes. The food tastes awesome when you are in extreme hunger, isn't it?
The return journey was tiring with both the sun and traffic at their peaks. Having played a significant role of a co-passenger, I slept like a log for 14 hours after returning home and woke up next morning feeling fresh. There were some learnings from this trip. We didn't carry water or snacks and had to search for eat-outs which are very rare in the highways. Also I feel it's better to leave early and return back early to avoid traffic. Our next destination is Belur and Halebid. Hopefully, I remember to carry my camera this time!
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