Day 36 - Back home in Cochin!

All good things must come to an end...cliched, yet true! 🤠😃

And so, yesterday, April 01st, 2022, at 6.30 pm, we reached our home, in Cochin, bang on schedule 🙏

36 days, 10400 kilometres, 27 hotels in various Cities across India, 8500 rupees in Toll fees across Toll Plazas in India, traversed some of India's most prestigious National Highways and Expressways, and, most importantly, brought back many sackfulls of unforgettable memories - it has been a truly remarkable, stunning, fulfilling experience! 

From Kanyakumari, India's southernmost point, to Amritsar, the highest point we travelled to in the North; from Puri on the East Coast to Ahmedabad on the West, our dreams came alive as we were enthralled and dumbfounded at Incredible India's diversity, people, cuisines, languages, palaces, monuments, temples, mosques, churches, Stupas, and last but not the least, the warmth, smiles and hospitality of our fellow Indians, wherever we went! Humbling...... most certainly 🙏

I had a dream - to drive across India and see as much as I could, of our beautiful land. This has been tugging at the heartstrings for a long time. We reached back home, last evening, having made the "dream come true"!

To all our family and friends...... thankyou for staying with us, till the end! 🙏🚘👍😃

The Himalayas beckons ...the North East, too....🤪😅

I leave you with a quote "growing old is mandatory, feeling old is optional" 😇😎

So, it's goodbye for now, and, we will keep in touch. Adios, THANKYOU ALL, ONCE AGAIN!

Abe (Kallakan, AKG) & Rajni 😍

Days 34 & 35 - Kozhikode (Calicut)

Two laid back, relaxed days in Kozhikode! A coastal City by the Arabian Sea, with a lovely beach and so many gourmet eateries! In earlier days, Calicut was called the 'City of Spices", for the spice trade that flourished here. In recent years, it earned another title, the "City of Sculptures" (Shilpa Nagaram) for the abundant sculptures around the City.

The horrendous 175 km drive from Bekal to Kozhikode, which took us almost 6 hours of driving time, was an absolute nightmare! The drive through the towns of Kannur, Tellicherry & Mahe would test the patience of a Dalai Lama. 😂 Seriously! In our entire road trip, across the length and breadth of India, this will rank as the worst segment. 

Our two days at Kozhikode has been all about home food. Appams & stew, Puttu & Egg roast, Fish curry meals, Prawns in any form......😜😋😀 Try out "The Shap restaurant", on Beach road, next time you are in Kozhikode. 

Tomorrow, we head back home. Part 1 of "One from the bucket list" - our Discovery of India - will come to a closure. A fond memory that both of us will carry, forever! The constant encouragement from family and friends has spurred us on - without a doubt! Thanks a ton!

Cheers, take care.....and..

Stay with us .......🚘🙏👏

************

A narrative, by itself, of our Discovery of India!🙏😃

Day 33 - Mangalore & Bekal

Our day began with a visit to the home of our younger daughter, Shwetha, who hails from Mangalore. The promise of a home-made breakfast was on our minds, and, we were not disappointed! 👍😀 After 32 days on the road, we thoroughly enjoyed the idlis and masala dosas, Banana Halwa, Mangalore buns, what not..... Thankyou Sharath & Ramesh Balnadu for your wonderful hospitality! Shwetha's 94-year old grandmother is a 'livewire' and so active! Touchwood! 🙏

After breakfast, we visited two lovely Churches in Mangalore - Milagres Church & St. Aloysius College Chapel. Declared a World Heritage site, St Aloysius Chapel is a beauty - stunning and breathtaking! The paintings have been restored, and, surely, this is a great legacy for the people of Mangalore.

Later, we drove to Bekal - 60 kms from Mangalore. The Bekal Fort, on the seashore, is really worth a visit! 👍 It had links to the Vijayanagara dynasty of Hampi, till Tipu Sultans father, Haider Ali captured the Fort. 

Well, Day 33 has been as beautiful as all the other days in this our "Discovery of India"!

Take care, guys .....and.... 

Stay with us......🚘👍👏

Day 32 - finally, back in the South of India - Mangalore

A long, winding, taxing (in terms of relentless concentration) 450 km drive from Hampi to Mangalore via Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Agumbe Ghats, Udupi, Manipal and, finally, Mangalore! I'm happy we had the opportunity to see Manipal. We have heard so much about it. I was extremely surprised at how well developed the town is! A longer route than the one suggested by Google Maps, but, I wanted Toll roads as much as possible. Excellent roads, except for a few patches..... minimal traffic. The hairpin bends on the Ghats section are easily manageable.

Today, we crossed 10,000 kms on our "Discovery of India" 👋👏 In God's infinite grace, so far so good! All eez well!! 

We had a wonderful thali meals lunch with fish masala and bhangda rava fry (Ayala) just after the Ghats section - Amravathi hotel - 100 kms from M'lore😋😀

Mangalore City looks so good. We were pleasantly surprised with the good-looking high-rises, the roads, eateries, commercial buildings ! Not because, our younger daughter is from Mangalore, but, genuinely so ! 😅

Well guys, we are on our home stretch! 

Tomorrow, on to Bekal, a one-day escapade, a gift to ourselves ! 😀

Thankyou all once again.... as Jason Rego wrote to us .....love the passion, we are staying with you till the end ! 👍🙏😍

Take care and ........ Stay with us 🚘😎👍

This is how "Discovery of India" looks, till date, today!

Days 30 & 31 - Hampi

Hampi, located on the banks of the Tungabhadra river, was the Capital city of the Vijayanagara empire. It flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries. The Vijayanagara empire covered the whole of South India, and even stretched into Odisha and Maharashtra. However, in the mid-16th century, the Sultanates of Bijapur, Bidar and others came together and defeated the armies of the Vijayanagara empire. Hampi was looted, set on fire and destroyed. It was only from 1960 onwards that the ASI started excavations and gradually discovered the massive ruins and the remains of a glorious bygone era. 

Hampi is, today, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Excavations and restoration works are ongoing. 

We drove into Hampi, post-lunch yesterday, after a 380 km drive from Hyderabad. We've spent yesterday evening and all of today visiting these monolithic monuments. There is so much to see in Hampi. This visit is yet another dream come true for us! 🙏🙏During the 16 years that we lived in Bangalore, somehow, we never made it to Hampi, and it's always remained in our bucket list!

The Temples, palace ruins and other associated structures are stunning masterpieces in stone. I should not forget to mention that they are engineering marvels, as well...👌👍

At the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi, the Temple elephant, Laxmi, will bless you if you gift her a bunch of plantains! She is really cute!! 😍 One small bit of trivia.....the magnificent Chariot at the Vijay Vitala Temple in Hampi is imprinted on the reverse of our 50 rupee note. Earlier, we wrote about the Chariot wheel at the Sun Temple in Konarak imprinted on our 10 rupee note. 

That's all for today, guys.....a wonderful, memorable trip to Hampi is in the kitty! 🙏😃 Tomorrow, we set off on a 400 km drive to Mangalore. 

Cheers, take care, and...... Stay with us 🚘👍😀

The stunning Virupaksha Temple🙏👌

👆This is the Chariot on our 50 rupee note!

The Elephant stables at Hampi....

Days 28 & 29 - Nagpur & Hyderabad

We left our home, in Cochin, on Friday, Feb. 25th. Today is Friday, March 25th! 😃 

Day 28: 

Nagpur is rated as India's cleanest City. We were not surprised. Roads, sidewalks are very clean. Traffic discipline is good. Nagpur is famous for its oranges. Sadly, this was not the Season time. So, we missed the oranges. The highlight of our visit to Nagpur was to see the "Zero Milestone" - supposedly the geographical centre of India. This monument, made in sandstone, was built by the British in 1907. It actually gave you goosebumps to think that you were standing in the middle of India! Distances from the Pillar to various Cities, in India, has been etched on this Pillar. Most of it has faded away! On the strong recommendation of good friend, Balaji, we visited the Haldirams Railway Coach restaurant, located in the premises of the Nagpur Railway station, for lunch. Excellent food! Their speciality is the "Raj Kachori". It was simply outstanding. Chole Bature is another of the Chef's special items. 

Day 29: 

We crossed borders, today, from Maharashtra into Telangana. State # 14 on our "Discovery of India"...👋👏 And, in the process, we crossed 9,000 kms, on our road trip. Kerala-TN-AP-Odisha-Jharkand-West Bengal-UP-MP-Punjab-Haryana-Rajasthan-Gujarat-Maharashtra-Telangana. Plus, one UT - Chandigarh. Tomorrow, into Karnataka, that will be State # 15, and then, HOME😀

It was a spectacular drive of about 500 kms from Nagpur to Hyderabad, this morning, along excellent Highways. Reached Hyderabad by 1.30 pm, went out for lunch to a popular eatery, Rayalaseema Ruchulu, for authentic Andhra Cuisine. We had been there, 4 years ago, at the time of elder son George's graduation from ISB. However, this time, we were disappointed. I told the Restaurant Manager that the quality has slipped considerably.

A quiet day at Hyderabad, and, off to Hampi, tomorrow morning! 

Thankyou very much everyone for all the messages and support!

Cheers, and, stay with us....🚘🙏👍

Day 27 - Ajanta Caves

The highlight of the day has to be our unplanned, spontaneous, and, memorable visit to the Ajanta Caves, located between Nashik & Akola. We set out for Akola, early this morning, from Nashik. A drive of 415 kms. About 150 kms from Akola, we noticed a signboard saying "Ajanta Caves" - 20 kms away. We did not need a second invitation! 😂

In "Our Discovery of India" road trip, this visit to the Ajanta Caves has to rank right up there. A World Heritage Site, Ajanta is estimated to be almost 2200 years old. Apparently, these Caves were discovered by a British officer, John Smith. 

Ajanta is a Buddhist site, whereas, Ellora is a Jain / Hindu site. There are about 30 Caves, in total, out of which 17 Caves are open to the public. Many of the Paintings are still intact. These spectacular Caves are really worth a visit. State run Buses ferry you from the parking lot to the Caves and back - a 10 minute ride, each way. A steep climb of about 70 odd steps has to be overcome, before you can enter the Caves! 😜 But, the effort is well worth it. 

At the end, one is speechless and left dumbfounded as to how these sculptors and artists must have created these masterpieces, 2000 years ago!  

We feel blessed and lucky to have taken this detour and seen the Ajanta Caves.

That's it for now......take care everyone, and, 

Stay with us...🚘😀👍