Weekend Getaway..

Rossi barges in a day in advance - we are going to Yercaud, wanna join? Why the hell not? Yes, we are game. Thats how my plans generally get made, unlike the preferences of the high command. All set, lets go!

First weekend getaway.. no real planning.. just a quick research on the net for accommodation, and we had hit the road already. Rossi had some last minute delays and decided to come with us instead of the rest of his gang. Took around an hour to struggle through Bangalore EC traffic followed by a super cruise from Hosur till Salem on NH7.. Wonderful road for a perfect drive - all thanks to the TN government! Just kept to the left in Salem and in no time we were going from 400m to 1400m above MSL on the Yercaud Road [Map].

Reached late evening.. had some trouble finding the resort in the dark.. hilly roads.. no street lights.. or neon signs.. but managed to home in - Grange Resort. Rooms were a delight, better than expected. Night outside was cold.. clear sky with brightest collection of stars we had seen in a long long time. Already dark, decided to crash early in hope to wake up early. Yes, we needed blankets to keep warm inside the room too.

We are not used to waking up early, so we did not! :D It was quite eight past something, may be nine-ish, when we decided to rise and shine.. mostly because breakfast had a limited time slot. Expectations were beaten.. food - though simple - was superb! Yummy English toasts with butter, and delicious idli-wada-sambhar. We were now realizing the beauty of the place - surrounded by coffee estate, the rooms were right in the middle. Lush green all around tempted us so much that we took to an after-breakfast morning walk through the estate enjoying the much missing vegetation in Bangalore. The estate also had an in-house coffee pod extraction machine.. Great to have a first hand view of the process before the aroma entices our olfactory system!

Time to catch up with the rest of the gang. Met over lunch.. chatted.. planned for the day.. started with Pagoda point.. and soon realized that sight-seeing is not adding much value to the trip.. geared up for ATV ride? Quite a costly affair considering the time and span of the ride. As not many fancied the ride, decided to head for the nearby Kaliyur falls. Theres not much of a pathway to reach the falls.. mostly single person track.. with quite a few steep steps.. and vegetation.. but the destination was worth it! Common with all water spots in India, you find men doing the best they can - getting wet, shouting and showing off in their own special ways.. which mostly works out as a deterrent for normal people to go for these spots! :)

Spent some time clicking and wrapped up for dinner in the town at Shevaroys. Pretty decent place, but more brick-n-cement and commercialized.. Yercaud is a place to enjoy natural beauty.. and unless you are in the lap of nature, you are definitely missing something. Lights on, and so are the drinks before we called it a day. Interesting things happened over the drinks at the Inn where the Gang was.. and we learnt about that the next day. No, I am not discussing those here! ;)

Wakie-wakie! Time to go.. Decided to check out the Grand Palace hotel atop a hill on our way back which caught our attention when we came in and as we were running around the town. Seemed like a good place, with nice view.. decent bar - Clound9.. definitely worth a consideration if you have a budget. No trip is complete without plants for the house! Nurseries offer amazing deals on saplings and small potted plants that we had to do major shuffling of stuff in the boot to make room for the new species!

Ride back home was not that interesting.. I guess the desire to stay back at the resort for couple of more days was still high.. hard choices are there to be made, and we were back from the mesmerizing place.. A definite weekend getaway for now on.. Lets hope we hit it again soon..

A Swift trip..

Planning usually fails.. so it did this time too.. A flight booked 18 hours earlier had to be canceled.. Reason? We take the road! :)

She was already there since last weekend - Sun28Sep - taking care of some medical urgency in the family.. major, but nothing serious.. work & issues restrained me at home.. and planned next long weekend on the other side.. nothing confirmed..

Finally booked my sector 24h in advance to keep the liabilities low.. came back from work.. tied up with baldy for dinner.. what about the road? worked out the feasibility.. physical, material, economical.. 850kms.. 15h stretch.. hmmm.. more of less same.. better put on slightly lower side.. and definitely with added energy..

Rossi confirmed the next day.. 18h to go.. sector canceled.. plans made.. maps printed.. navigation in place. An 'I might' from the Master of Broken Fingers (MOBF).. yes, there's lotta space.. the more the merrier.. what else? picked everyone up.. had a late drink & dinner to fix up last minute details.. 1300h n' we hit bed.. alarms popping up at 1500h.. congested eyes opened.. two set of cloths in a bag.. Swift loaded and up for the run at 1600h..

The trip started with navigation failure within the first 70kms.. ha ha! we wondered whats in for us for the day.. back on NH4 with some extra effort.. pepped up navigation skills.. desperately trying to keep average speed to 60kmph.. with almost devastated roads.. big potholes.. constant jarring in the ears at 80kmph.. still recovering from sleep(less) cycle.. roads smoothed out a bit after 120kms or 3 hours.. and we pushed the gas..

All smiles with our average hovering above 60kmph.. touching 120kmph at times.. first pit stop at Renibennur.. HP petrol pump Dhaba.. decent meal and we are awake now.. munching some Dharwad pedas, lets push in some more gas.. average speed seemed rising fast.. with frequent bursts of 140kmph.. sometimes even 160kmph.. quite sometime spent chasing and getting chased by a Merc.. the only vehicle that whizzed past us! the scenery improved with time.. started having the feel of ghats.. destination was near.. all the time she was waiting for the flight to take off for the 1.5h trip.. yes.. the flight was delayed.. by 2h or so..

One point the tank almost went dry.. MOBF was sure there is no pit stop for next 200kms.. somehow found one - which seemed to be the only one - on the roadside.. no shelter.. no counter.. no tyre change crew.. just a lone pump.. filled up for next 200kms.. and viola! the next 10kms just had bunks.. and nothing else! MOBF at his best! ;)

Eventually entered the city.. first drop point.. the only (at least assumed so!) in-city navigator MOBF was at home and we on our own to navigate to our destination.. maps were quite accurate.. finding nemo was not much of a hassle.. asked her to check the flight from the balcony.. and there was a mixed feeling.. I guess seeing the chao-chao did the trick!! :)

12h 45m drive, Thu02Oct.. and we were home.. strangely enough not tired! The emergency was already resolved.. though not normal, things were better.. another 1 month for full recovery.. 3 days before we return from quick migration..

Evening was very eventful.. In Pune and no Bhael? Is that really possible? Even if it is, she won't let it take happen! At home, another fav of mine awaited my night out.. loading windows could be painful with limited resources with limited disk and not so legal softwares.. trust me. ;)

Morning arrived fast.. Rossi had already taken off to meet local clients on office work.. We lazed around a bit.. some touch-ups to the laptop.. rushed up to catch lunch with Don - the Lucky7 comrade.. Yoko's was where we all refueled.. Cutie pie #1 was the attention getter.. Coffee Day was the evening rescue.. roamed around the city a bit more.. which looked cleaner than ever before.. returned home after a small shopping festival.. hit bed to wake up again and wander around..

Sat was lazy again as usual.. basic chorus around the house took half the day.. final touch-ups to the laptop.. finally managed to push ourselves out on the streets.. handed over the rejuvenated machine.. Cutie Pie #2 was adorable indeed.. off from there and into a mall.. i guess in or around MG.. more food.. more fun - was what on our minds! :D

Caught up with Don one more time.. final goodbyes as had to leave early morning.. went to MOBF.. confirmed the start route for the return trip.. back home.. dinner.. packed up.. hit bed.. hmmm... was a short trip.. wished we had more time.. alarms went off at 3.. shall we or just 5mins more.. 5mins turn into an hour.. and all last minute things left us hitting the road at 0445h.. straight to MOBF.. never knew he had another 30 mins to wrap up!

The journey was on.. screeching corners on the ghats.. 160kmph bursts.. good roads.. bad roads.. good potholes.. bad ones.. all seemed like a video game.. couple of pit stops to keep eyes open.. and the zillion reps of - "One thing I like about Pune is the hills!".. whizzing past trucks.. trailers.. cars.. bus.. carts.. No one to overtake us? and there was the A4.. young driver.. not much skilled.. but fast.. may be it was the car.. more bhp.. more traction.. more pull.. gave it a good chase till a final break at the Kamat.. the last meal was heavy.. not only on the stomach.. but on the head too.. Rossi had to complete the last lap home..

Touch down at 1800hrs.. MOBF took the 3-wheel chauffeur driven limousine.. all we knew was bed and the alarms popping in our heads for the next days office!

1840kms on petrol.. 15.54kpl.. Quite a Swift trip..