Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Monster Driver and His Beast on a Great Indian Road Trip with their family - Chapter 1 : Preparations

PREPARATIONS

We are planning a major road trip. Bangalore - Nagpur - Delhi - Shimla - Manali - Jaipur - Ahmedabad - Mumbai - Bangalore in 11 Days. Around India in 11 Days.

No. of travellers - 4
Driver - Ashok
Passengers - Apsara, Amrita and Asha (who can also be an occasional driver, i.e. if the main driver lets her)
Vehicle - Scorpio

The exitement has started. The day Ashok got the reservation to the Club Mahindra Resort at Gables Mashonbra, Shimla called Whispering Pines we decided that we will not go by air but we will drive down. It had always been our dream to do a road trip across India and especially drive on the Golden Quadrilateral which Ashok fondly calls as Vajpayee Thatha road as it was the former Prime Minister of India Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee who initiated the Golden Quadrilateral project and connected India seamless and brought about an economic boom and a travel revolution.

We discussed at length and chalked our a route that we will take. Since AShok is a veteran driver with more than 300000 kms of driving under his belt, he knows the routes and what it takes to drive.

Onward Journey

Wednesday      Apr-03             Bangalore to Nagpur    1069 km
Thursday         Apr-04             Nagpur to Agra              819 km
                                                       Agra to Mathura       58.70 km
                                                      Mathura to Delhi     159 km
Friday              Apr-05             Delhi to Shimla             367 km
Saturday          Apr-06                         Shimla
Sunday            Apr-07                         Shimla
Monday           Apr-08                         Shimla
Tuesday           Apr-09                         Kulu                208 km
Wednesday      Apr-10                         Manali              40 km
                                -----------------------------------------------------
                                                TOTAL                    2720.70 km
                                -----------------------------------------------------

The Beast is being made ready. This trusted beast of Ashok 'the monster driver' has done more than one lakh kilometers. Its the safest vehicle. The monster driver loves this beast to death and they have a very special understanding between them like that of a pet (doberman) and its master. Just like a doberman this beast is very loyal to only its one and only monster driver master and one gentle touch is enough for the beast to understand the comands of its master and do his bidding. The beast is getting pruned and oiled. Its being being readied like a bride is readied for her wedding. Wheel alignment, oil changes, AC gas checking, all electrical connection checking etc. The music system will be checked tomorrow on a special request by my daughter.

My daughters are DJ Apsara and DJ Amrita. Out of about 600 hours of driving time they have divided the timings equally amongst themselves when each of them gets to play their music. So they are busy downloading all kinds of music and I am sure that the entertainment part of the journey will be well taken care of.

I, on my part am checking out all sorts of blogs for different dhabhas on the way and the local cuisine available so that we can taste all the flavors of India. I am more focussed on the breakfast, lunch, dinner and the tea coffee stops. We also will need a lot of water. I have also stocked my medicine supplies with tablets for vomiting, motion sickness, loose motions, stomach aches, fever etc.

Here's to a lot of packing, preparations and lots more exitement.... All set to leave tomorrow ....

1 comment:

  1. Supeeeeeeeerrrrrr... I know the Beast, once had a trip Bangalore <> Mumbai....

    ReplyDelete