A Road Trip turned Incredible!

Tires of our car were lucky, as they kissed the roads least taken as we touch dead-ends more often than destinations. We Crossed the Indian Bermuda triangles… Directions? Google maps felt helpless! And Roads? They often turned ghostly.

If you don't like reading, skip to the movie we made! ;)

The Road Trip

We toured 5 days and covered the West Coast of India, touching virgin and eventful beaches, drove through peaceful mountains to the ones loaded with wild animals. From freeways to state highways to no roads at all, we were riding free with vacuum in our minds, singing along with Raghu Dixit, Indian Ocean, The Dewarist and 1000 hours of songs in our iPods.

Starring us!

It was Abhijit, [@abhijitvb] an apt mixture of Gujju and Marathi manush, whose plan it was to travel along the coast. He is known for his wildest ideas and which he smoothly executes (this trip was his idea). Since his santro car was used-to his ideas; she silently agreed to the master’s will for rolling 2500 kms.

Mihir Gorecha, the Robot, as we call him. He is a guy who will climb up any mountain in his vicinity! He is known for his adventures endeavors; jumping from airplanes is his favorite pass time (of course with a parachute) Sky diving, I mean!

Krishanu Mukherjee [@krishhhh], our bongali dada. He loves traveling with his SLR, capturing those soul moments of life that we often miss. He also made a short movie that pretty much describes our journey.

And the fourth seat in the car was occupied by me, Satyam Gambhir [@xatyam]. I am a professional blogger. A boy from dilli, who just loves to be, where there is little extra life than usual.

A cool headed guy, a sporty adventurer, a philosophical dada and a chilled out beer-ified guy, packed their bags to celebrate new year’s eve at a place (on the map) which they didn’t know whether existed, away from usual conventional partying culture.

Conversations

Gorecha: Alright guys, all set!!!! Say cheers.

Me: But mera ek problem hai. Wherever we are stopping during the nights, I need rooms with clean toilets. Mera potty ka problem hai.

Abhijit: We know that Satyam; checkout the hatch. We have a gift for you.

And there was a full roll of toilet paper.

Me: But I don’t use this. I need water for the job!!!

Abhijit: Checkout there is something more.

And there I found tents and 4 sleeping bags.

So, they made sure I get enough sea water for the potty as they had no plans to stay at hotel for the 5 night trip. This made me uncomfortable, only until I did my potty in open air for the first time!!!

The Journey and fun

Driving one at a time, stopping at almost every place we found worthy; it will remain one unforgettable trip of my life. Climbing up the hill where the slope was beyond imagination and downhill where the brakes refused to work, our wheels were the hero of the trip who took us from here until there, alive.

We passed through the beautiful Western Ghats; yes, right through the middle of those  horrifying roars of wild animals; reminding us of ‘why we took this route?’ There were no roads and we were following a pattern on the sand which seemed to be those of a four wheeler tire imprints. We also found dead ends where we traveled 100 kms back because the Google map showed us the wrong direction. 

The Accident: Click to enlarge.

While road trips are always interesting, we encountered an incident which was life altering. Our vehicle was touching 150 km/hr on a highway towards Goa and we were following a sedan. While the road was smooth with no signs of any speed breakers; suddenly the road ended!!!!! and the sedan in-front flew in the air and smashed into the valley. It took us our reaction time to stop our car by applying full brakes and saved ourselves. We ran down the road to see if the guys were alright, and we were pleased to know than no one was hurt. We were surprised to know why there were no sign boards on the road to warn travelers about ‘broken road ahead’, rather ‘no road ahead’. 

The last stretch

We were yet 400 kms away from Kodi and it was 30^th December evening already. Now the deal was to drive this nonstop, as we were expecting another friend to arrive there on time. This was the best stretch ever; we not only completed it without any major stoppage, but reached a couple of hours before time. The memories of these last 400 kms will always remain with me, as it involved intense discussions among friends who were different like 4 directions and still respected each other’s opinion. Conversations, some senti, some emotional and some regarding aims to achieve; that made us forget the road and reach in time. Conversations that changed my outlook towards life.

It was the road, the journey that brought close friends even closer!