An unplanned trip introduces you to your wiser version – one where you don’t have to rely on itineraries. It’s an opportunity to cut loose and be a little irresponsible while you still can – which is not a lot for me, considering my A-type personality. But for someone whose day is packed with meetings and deadlines, deciding to drop it all, pack a bag and leave in a few hours helps regain that feeling of control.
Hampi in Karnataka was the biking destination – a historian’s must visit place, an architect’s marvel and a photographer’s paradise. A group of Royal Enfields, driven by old classmates and friends departed from Goa, Pune and Bangalore at 5 am. We planned to cover a distance of 320 kms from Goa in 8-9 hours and spend two days taking in the rocky scenery.
We made good time that morning, being all fresh and excited about the journey. Goa and its sleepy houses were left behind. Up ahead, there was the Chorla Ghats, with their windy, hairpin curves and abundant forests on both sides. We rode higher and higher, into the cool, foggy air, enjoying the spectacular scenery and disrupting the silence with the noise of the bullets silencers.
Coconut trees turned to fragrant, flowering mango plantations when we stopped at a lone tea stall – the only one we’d seen in three hours. There were around four truckers at the stall – all who gaped open mouthed at our two shiny Royal Enfields and walked around them in circles, whispering, as we sipped our hot, tasteless tea a little farther off.
In case you’re planning a long distance road trip, I suggest you use the “Sygic” app. It’s a lot like Google Maps, but shows you places to eat, the nearest hospital, petrol pumps, hotels, mechanic shops, the nearest police station, and a whole lot of other things as you drive along. I found it to be accurate 80% of the time. On other occasions, it showed us restaurants where there was nothing but barren land, and pointed out that the nearest petrol station was 160 kms away, when in fact, there was one around the bend. Still, better than Google Maps!
One thing I hadn’t anticipated was how difficult it would be to not talk for hours at a stretch. With the noise the bikes were making, and the helmets the guys were wearing, my attempts at making small talk were in vain. They had to slow down and say “Whaaaat?”... several times. Not worth it, so I proceeded to listen to every song on everyone’s playlist by myself, while admiring the view.
There are two things you shouldn’t put off until later when driving or riding inter-city. Petrol pumps and loos. When you pass by one of these, it’s natural to think, “Oh, i don’t have to fill up on gas or use the washroom right now, so I’ll just wait until the next one.” You never know how far the next one will be, and holding your bladder while on a bumpy road is not fun.
The best part of the entire ride was when a peacock, spooked with the sound of our Enfields actually flew IN BETWEEN my friend who was driving and me at the back, it’s wing brushing my forehead! We turned back to find out what it was, and saw it land on the road and run into a field. To call it gorgeous would be an understatement.
After covering half the distance, we stopped for an amazing breakfast of omelets and coffee and headed out again. The ride was getting monotonous now as we had reached a road that never seemed to end – with absolutely nothing to see on either side but empty fields that occasionally turned into a small town and back to fields in a matter of minutes.
My friends who were driving are seasoned bikers know a thing or two about long bike rides. Apparently, long distance bikers keep their headlights on all through the journey, day or night. And since this is something most people don’t know, it was freaking hilarious the way every single person did the “lights on” hand gesture as we passed. Men on bullock carts, women at bus stops, school children attending class under a banyan tree along with their teachers... everyone did the hand snapping “lights on” gesture and shook or slapped their foreheads when we whizzed past, like we haven’t taken their career advice and have chosen to study something “useless.”
Finally, just when our thighs and back begin to get unbearably stiff, we see gigantic boulders – the first sign of Hampi at 2 pm. It looks like the perfect set for a Flintstones movie – with rocks of all shapes and sizes that stretch as far as the eyes can see. Or perhaps, the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park would be more at home here – I can just picture them jumping from boulder to boulder and flying above.
The last time I visited this ancient, ruined city was in the 8th grade, monitored by teachers who wouldn’t let us explore on our own, and with old style reel cameras with bad pictures that once clicked, you just had to live with. This time though, it was so much different...
I'll tell you how in my next blog post. Stay tuned :)
