Our last days drive!
An early start, with breakfast from 0600 and, after a short briefing, a 7.45 departure.
Today we are back to following the map and navigating for ourselves: a 240km drive. There are to be several regroups to ensure that we arrive at the finnish line together.
For the first part of our journey we once again descend a series of hairpin bends through the tea plantations: it is often misty and even so the views are magnificent. We descend through a wildlife park - nothing to see - and through jungle to descend into a number of small towns, stopping for chai at Pappona. It is raining and still cool. Some of our number eat a second breakfast of egg curry - declared the best curry yet! I make do with coffee, hot and sweet!
Onward, we pass through a village where a large number of pilgrims, including nuns, queue, first on one side of the road and then the other, to visit the locl temple on what is an auspicious day for them. This causes really bad traffic congestion, with cars parked randomly, and traffic stopped at regular intervals to allow the pilgrims to cross the road.
Another chai and regroup just before passing over a massive damm - no photographs, armed gaurds! - and we afix a few decorations to the car in the form of silk/plastic flower garlands - and continue descending on to the main Ghat Road. Now it is very busy, with the usual honking of horns, pedestrians jaywalking and most traffic trying to overtake the vehicle in front - on both sides of the road! Another regroup to allow the stragglers to catch up - guilty! - (and give us time to attach the two flags of St. George that we had carried out from England) - until finally we are driving into the last 5km stretch. The final regroup is at a petrol station forcourt, and from here, in convoy, we traverse rutted flooded roads until we reach the LakeSong hotel car park, and one by one we complete the journey with headlights and flashers on, horns blaring, into our allocated parking space, twenty Ambassadors sweeping in and parking in quick succession.
To greet us there are native musicians and a large bull elephant, dressed in a ceremonial headpiece - for luck.
Over 2000km in 10 driving days, in heat and cold, dry and wet, good roads and bad (and very very bad) with navigational aids and without! And with good company.
In the words of Felix Dennis - "DONE, BROTHER, DONE".
A hot shower, the last group dinner, and a day off at the resort before heading back to Mumbai and on to London, arriving home on December 6th. But not before we are told the cost of the damages we must pay on the car - one broken indicator glass at 160 Rupees - about 2 pounds and 30 pence!!
We hope to add more photographs and our thoughts on the event when we return to the UK - so please do keep visiting us until the end of the year.
Thank you all for looking in!
Barbara and Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment