Renault LiveLodgycal in Goa

I am sprawled in the super comfortable seats of the Lodgy with the back reclined to the max, like a sleeper seat. There is enough legroom that I can stretch my 5’10” frame almost straight while lying down. It is raining hard outside and there is the melodious pitter-patter of rain falling on metal. The vipers are fighting valiantly to keep the windshield clean, but the rest of the windows are covered by a sheet of water, making for a very diffused lighting inside the car. I have my Fiio connected to the Lodgy’s fancy-looking audio system and Arijit Singh’s soulful voice is sounding oh-so-good. No one in the car is talking, everyone probably lost in their thoughts or immersed in the music. It is as if we are insulated from everything else in the world, just the 4 of us, in Renault’s spacious new Lodgy.

We are driving on the dreamy NH17 in Goa, from Lalit Resort, Canacona to The Leela Kempinski, Cavelossim (our base of operations). Manjulika (@manjulika5) is at the wheel, and she is driving slowly, in a very relaxed way. Goa in monsoons is a carpet of green and the NH17 is taking us through some beautiful ghat sections, where everything apart from the road is heavily forested, accentuating the feeling of being disconnected from the wider world. Usually I am the guy hogging most of the driving, but today I was discovering how pleasurable it can be to be driven though such beautiful roads. Sitting in the front is Rekha (@RekhaKakkar) taking photos through the rain and lying alongside is Jim (@JimmieLuthra) who like me, is content to lie back and enjoy the drive

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Jal Srushti Island Resort

Each summer in Bombay feels more wretched and scorching than the previous one, doesn’t it ? “Is baar garmi bahut zyada hai” is the common refrain on everyone’s lips in Bombay nowadays. The neverending spells of rain in monsoon seem so alluring right now! But they are still atleast 2 months away …

While we don’t have a solution for the heat, we do have a recommendation for a splendid weekend getaway . Our latest find is Jal Srushti Island Resort (www.jalsrushti.com), near Pune. It is one of the more plush resorts to have come up in the region, in the last couple of years. It is much closer to Pune actually (45 km), and if you are coming from Bombay, better to use Expressway till Pune and then go via Hinjewadi.
(Roads in Hinjewadi have some scary holes, but rest of the roads were great)

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Mandu

(part of our Madhya Pradesh roadtrip)

Mandu is called India’s best preserved medieval city, and justifiably so. Built by the Malwa governor Dilawar Khan in 1400, Mandu had an interesting 300 years of existence before it ceased being a capital and then was abandoned due to plague. Mandu is very similar to Hampi in the sense that they are both medieval cities spread over a huge area, abandoned after a couple of centuries of prosperity. Hampi is set along the Tungabhadra river, while Mandu is set amidst beautiful lakes. The difference is that Hampi is set in a dry area of the Deccan region while Mandu is covered in greenery.

(Bhopal to Mandu is about 300 km, most of it on the NH3, which continues to be a charming road. From Mhow, we had to branch off on a small two lane road which heads towards Mandu. Here we had another Google Maps error – chose the wrong road – which wasn’t as bad as the Vidisha road, but was about 25 min of broken road. After we rejoined the correct road, the road started climbing onto the Malwa plateau and soon we arrived in Mandu)

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Sanchi

(part of our Madhya Pradesh roadtrip)

Sanchi needs no introduction - most of us remember it from our history books.
However, I dont think Indian education system does justice to all these magnificent monuments left behind by kings long gone by. For example, the Sanchi Stupa is the sole surviving stupa built by Emperor Ashoka - and the oldest surviving stone structure in India (thank you wikipedia). Legend goes that after Buddha was cremated, his ashes were divided into 10 parts and they formed the core of 10 main stupas built by Emperor Ashoka. The location of 8 of them are lost, only two are known - Sanchi and Sarnath. The one at Sarnath has been rebuilt around 500 AD (by Gupta rulers probably), with only the basement surviving from Emperor Ashoka's stupa.

Sanchi had a more lucky existence, where the original brick stupa has been retained and covered with stone by the later Sunga rulers (enlarging it in the process). They also added the ballustrade and the stone pathway around the stupa. The Satavahanas, who succeeded the Sungas, added the 4 elaborated carved toranas (gateways) which give Sanchi its identity.

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Udaygiri Caves, Vidisha

(part of our Madhya Pradesh roadtrip)

Vidisha is an ancient, but little known town in Central India. In fact the Great Stupa at Sanchi owes it's existence to Vidisha - as Emperor Ashoka met and married his first wife Devi at Vidisha (she was a merchant's daughter). Sanchi was one the first stupas built by Ashoka and it's construction was apparently personally supervised by Devi herself. Vidisha is only 15 km from Sanchi, hence it was a sort of bonus to Sanchi. The target was the Udaygiri caves near Vidisha, one of the oldest cave temples in India, and probably the oldest Hindu cave temple in India. Built around 400 AD by Chandragupta II of Gupta dynasty, it is one of the few surviving examples of Gupta architecture.

However the road to Udayagiri was much more than we bargained for. Google Maps showed a road that skirted Vidisha city, and we were happy to get a chance to avoid the narrow roads of an old city. But that road soon vanished, leaving a dirt track through corn fields, which was fit only for tractors. We coaxed and cajoled our car through it for km after km, hoping that better roads were just a little way away. The car even touched one of the rocks on that road, but thankfully nothing broke. That 13 km took us a full hour to cover.

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Bhimbetka

(part of our Madhya Pradesh roadtrip)

If we go into India's recorded history, the earliest written records we have belong to the Maurya kings (4th century BC) - mostly edicts and inscriptions left behind by Emperor Ashoka - or accounts of foreigners like Megasthenes and Fahein. The Nanda dynasty, who preceded the Mauryas, are mentioned by Alexander's historians and made famous by the story of Chanakya, but they did not leave behind any physical evidence themselves.
The story goes that Alexander stopped his world domination march because his soldiers got frightened by stories of Nanda's huge army (including 3000 war elephants), and refused to march any further

The oldest standing manmade monuments in the subcontinent are undoubtedly the Indus Valley cities, which date back to more than 4000 BC (or about 6000 years old). Their pictographical script hasn't been decoded yet. But the expansive cities they built, with high amount of civic engineering and town planning, were unparalleled in the world at that time. The more famous cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro are unfortunately located in Pakistan, but the sites in India are equally wondorous, as we discovered in Dholavira

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Indore : Sarafa Bazaar

(part of our Madhya Pradesh roadtrip)

Indore is sometimes called the "Bombay" of Central India - on account of being the largest city in Madhya Pradesh and its commercial capital. We were using Indore just as a resting point on day 1, but after sampling the amazing food on offer, we think it should be known as the food capital of Central India as well.

Imagine a traditional market area in any Indian city. This one specializes in jewellery - hence the name Sarafa Bazaar. The lanes are narrow, and vehicular traffic isn't allowed inside. The shops themselves are small and aren't too fancy. But once the hustle bustle of the day dies down and the shops close up, a different kind of crowd starts trickling in. By 10 pm, food stalls pop up in front of the jewellery shops - serving different kinds of chats and sweets. And local residents turn out in droves to savour the famous Joshi dahi wada or have a glass of cold sweet thandai - or any of the other chats on display. And the stream of customers stretches upto 3 am in the morning ! (in Bombay everything in shut by 1, in comparison)

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Madhya Pradesh - Bhimbetka, Sanchi & Mandu

October was an exceptional month for travelers in India
There were three long weekends possible in a single month – a situation which was probably unprecedented in the past few years.
The 2nd Oct weekend was especially alluring because the following Monday, 6th, was also a holiday. So taking 3rd off would make it a 5 day weekend.

It was quickly decided that the long weekend would be perfect for a trip to the desert in Rajasthan. Jaisalmer and Jodhpur were quickly finalized and a rough itinerary formed. But at the start of Sept, we were already too late. All trains to Rajasthan were booked solid (triple digit waiting list). Flights were also expensive due to the additional demand. The 5 day trip was coming out to be quite expensive.

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Vihigaon Falls

This year’s monsoon had a false start in June when we had gone to Ark Wellness Retreat – when the initial few days of rains fizzled out and the sky remained cloudy but never burst open. There was a long wait for rains to arrive and the downpour finally started only in the second week of July in Mumbai. And this time the rains haven't stopped yet, bringing smiles to our faces when we are safely ensconced in our homes or offices. From my window seat in office, I always stare at the torrential rains outside, longing to be in my car instead, driving.

So I was definitely hoping for a fully wet Sunday when we made plans to visit Vihigaon Falls. And I got my wish fulfilled as the rains were torrential when we left Bombay. The downpour stopped when we were at our destination and then again started in an almighty fashion on our way back. Driving in heavy rain, sitting cozily inside the car, music playing, is one of the most indescribably pleasurable things I have recently discovered

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Ark Wellness Retreat

Monsoon is here AGAIN !
Like most Bombayites, we were also waiting anxiously for monsoons rains to start – as this has been a long and hot summer. While Bombay takes a turn for the worse once the downpour starts - as roads gets taken over by potholes, traffic slows to a crawl, trains run late and autorickshaws play truant - but the silver lining are the weekend trips. The Sahyadri hills around Bombay, which were dry and brown and quite an eyesore in the summer months - will turn green, sprout waterfalls and have the most pleasant weather possible

Although rains this year were delayed by a week, Gods smiled on us and we had rains for the day before and on our trip. Our destination was Ark Wellness Retreat (www.arkretreat.in), a new weekend getaway property in the hills around Lonavala. This is somewhere between Pavana dam and Mulshi dam, somewhere in Mulshi district. It is exactly a 3 hour drive via the Expressway from Mumbai, so it can be done without a break – but whats a weekend trip without a McDonald’s breakfast ?

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Mango Beach House, Kihim

With 3 weddings in the second half of 2013, we hadn’t been able to take a travel break since Fratelli ! So when a small cause for celebration came up last week, we decided to splurge on ourselves a bit and drove down to Mango Beach House in Kihim (Alibaug) this weekend.

Mango Beach House (http://www.mangobeachhouse.com) is a very cosy property tucked away near Kihim beach. It is spread over a hockey-field sized plot with 8 regular rooms and two terrace suites. The regular rooms are pretty huge and the bathrooms themselves will put many Mumbai bedrooms to shame. The buildings are in white and each room is very airy with very liberal use of glass in the design

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Kaas Plateau : Valley of Flowers

Most of us have heard stories of the famed Valley of Flowers in the Himalayas in Uttarakhand – where the entire valley is engulfed in wild flowers of all colours, for a couple of months in a year. My father had the good fortune of seeing it for himself back in his younger days and he cannot help gushing about how beautiful it was, every time the topic comes up. However, that phenomenon is not limited to Himalayan peaks alone. Here in Maharashtra, in the district of Satara, there is a plateau of Kaas (locally called Kaas Pathar) which too gets covered by wild flowers, when the monsoon rains recede.

These wildflowers blossom for a very short while – just a couple of weeks – but they cover the full plateau with it. The Western Ghats in the monsoons are already at their most magical, with all the hills surrounding Kaas in a verdant green. Lakes are full and waterfalls in full flow. Amidst all this, imagine a plateau kissed by clouds & fog, covered with pink, blue, yellow and white flowers all over. And if you are lucky, you will have a clear day without the mist – with blue skies above and flower carpet on the ground (as this photo below. Photo credit www.bcmtouring.com)

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Fratellli Winery

As with the Indian wine market, Sula Vineyard near Nasik has the top-of-the-mind recall for winery visits if you are from Bombay. In fact, quite a few people struggle to name Indian wine labels apart from Sula, given how ubiquitous it has become. However, there are smaller, newer winemakers who think they can do a better job than Sula, at coaxing good wines out of the harsh Indian climate.
Vallonne is one such new brand that has impressed us lately. And the other is Fratelli.

While most wine makers – old stalwarts like Chateau Indage and Sula, as well as newer entrants Zampa and Vallonne – have made the valleys surrounding Nasik their base, Fratelli has chosen to set up its vineyard near the town of Akhluj, in Sholapur district. Best way to describe its location is midway between Pune and Sholapur.

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Rann of Kutch

160 kmph on the speedometer. Engine screaming near 5000 rpm.
The road wide, smooth and shimmering in the heat.
On both sides of the road is barren yellow land. Dry, with occasional scrub here and there. No sign of life for miles.

It is cool in the car, but our senses are wide awake – lots of adrenaline pumping as the car goes faster than it ever has. Eyes are intensely scanning the road ahead for any pothole or any vehicle/human on either side of the road. But nothing comes into view as the occasional mile marker flashes by, counting down the numbers. The road is not perfectly straight, but you don't care because there are no abrupt turns - you don't have to go below 120 kmph anywhere.

Finally after running a while at 160kmph, sense takes over and we drop to 140kmph, which we held on to for the rest of the trip. If you are enthusiastic about driving in any form, you have not really driven in India if you haven’t driven in Kutch in Gujarat. The Ahmedabad Bhuj highway is a driver’s dream

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Ajanta Ellora

We hadn’t done a driving holiday yet (though we had been to Pune in the car), so we were on the lookout for an opportune time and a destination. The time appeared in form of Gandhi Jayanti on a Tuesday – the last long weekend of the year. And for a while I had been itching to visit Aurangabad – to see the Ajanta and Ellora caves. They are supposed to be one of India’s foremost historical treasures, among India’s first World Heritage sites, and so close to Bombay. I had never seen them – the wife had seen them as a kid a long time ago.

Aurangabad is 365 km from Bombay, but there is no direct highway to it. Preliminary searches suggested taking the NH3 via Nasik was better than the NH222 via Malshej Ghat. And by the results from Google searches, it seemed like not too many people from Bombay took the road route to Ajanta Ellora – maybe they preferred the trains (there is a Shatabdi to Aurangabad). Travel websites like www.bcmtouring.com had a few travelogues which confirmed for us that this was a doable drive for one person. We were toying with the idea of asking someone else to join us, but then decided to keep it just for the two of us.

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