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Road to Karnataka Part 1: Sights & Scenes

INDIA | Monday, 19 March 2007 | Views [851]

Our resting time in Paradise has come to a close, and our next adventure begins as we venture through the state of Karnataka, just south of Goa. We plan to cover a very large territory, from the temples, ruins, world heritage sites and thriving metropolis of Bangalore… through the state of Kerala’s beach towns, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves, and up to the cool hill towns in the state of Tamil Nadu. To cover such an area in two weeks, we decided to get a driver and car… as the buses would take us months to cover the areas. Drivers and cars are not so expensive, so we used the agent we had gone through during our southern India travels in 2004. Our driver “Raj” has arrived in a snazzy white ambassador. He’s dressed in a pressed white uniform and slicked back hair, red smeared dot above his nose on his forehead. So much for us trying to take a low keep ride to blend in locally, with our royal wheels. The drive is rough, bumpy and will take 9 hours to Hospet. Darrin is feeling carsick and likely to hurl, so he moves up to the front seat and gets to see the up close skillful driving techniques deployed minute by minute by Raj; dodging cars, camel packs, sheep, pigs and people… along with huge trucks he’s playing chicken with. I’m not sure what made Darrin sicker, the back seat, or the visuals from the front window. We drove through towns of beautiful coastline, down the southern end of Goa and into Karnataka, eventually weaving our way inland through rice paddies and banana plantations. Further afield we moved through deep red earth, which reminded us of Australia. Even the trees alongside the road were caked with red dust and no longer brilliant shades of green. Buildings were san blasted red, and the clothing of the locals bore the distinct shade of the earthly dye. We passed through local towns where large “goods carriers” trucks transported not only cargo masses, and masses of people packed on the top of the cab. Many were waiting to be loaded with iron from the mines, and they all (hundreds) would take to the road after 10:00pm… the reason why you don’t drive the roads in India at night.

Tags: On the Road