South India Dec2006-07 (Part I)

Travel through a most fascinating countryside

Somehow I always ended with a flight for a few days to Goa. Well….it was time to change that !

With plenty of time to travel in India now, I finally decided to do South India trip with or without anybody. With my wife not getting holidays and a travel partner hard to find (well, I mean with the same understanding), I decided to do it alone.

Preparation

The travel Checklist was updated and 4x4 Off-roader Maruti Gypsy was serviced (at this moment just 5400 kms on Odometer). After many travel guides and Internet hours finally a route emerged in my mind. Since I also wanted to meet few relatives and friends while on this tour, after some phone-calls and e-mails, the dates were cleared. Accommodating friends and relatives did influence the final program but actually I am happy because I would have missed a lot of fun.

The route

Being in Delhi, I had to go to South India via Mumbai. The other route via Gwalior did not fit in my plans (actually, I intend covering that in Part II of South India). After Mumbai, I planned to drive down to Goa and then cutting across Karnataka via Anshi, Dandeli and Dharwad towards Banaglore. Infact, go right till the East coast of Pondicherry. Covering Chennai (going upwards) was not possible due to lack of time. So I planned to travel to Kanyakumari covering areas of Trichy, Madurai, Rameshwaram as well as Tuticorin. And then head slowly upwards spending some time in Kerela and driving upto Mumbai and back to Delhi. Well, that was the broad plan and I had 6 weeks. Some very interesting sites like Mysore, Hassan, Chennai….and many others had to be forgotten due to time constraints. I have these places in mind for the Part II of South India.

The terrain, the roads and the backwaters

The journey from Delhi started with green belt of Harayana. The land changes into rather sandy towards Jaipur. The terrain till Udaipur is more of a flat semi-desert plains of Rajasthan with elevation rising from 200 odd meters in Delhi to some 600 odd meters near Udaipur in Aravali range. After Udaipur the road winds down through the hills towards Vadodara reaching back to a few meters above sea level and remains like that till Mumbai. The NH8 highway between Delhi and Mumbai is pretty well done except for the bad patches near Ahmedabad. The highlight being NE1 express highway after Vadodara which is quite good according to Indian standards.

The terrain changes after Mumbai towards Goa. The semi-arid land is again visible and it’s a mixed terrain of rocky hills and greenery. The western coast is also a mixture of rocky areas and flat terrain.

The left turn before Karwar towards Anshi, the thick green forest took over and the elevation is raised to 400-500 meters. The thick belt of forest of Anshi and Dandeli region gives way to agricultural land and the elevation goes as high as 900 odd meters at Bangalore. No wonder why the weather in Bangalore is less hot than other hotter areas of South India.

The rest of the entire coastal area below Pondy on eastern coast and uptill Mangalore on the western coast is just a varied green. Throughout the journey of South India, I found that the best roads were undoubtably in Kerala. But the roads in Kerela were then also most heavily and madly used by drivers of all vehicles and ages. The Tsunami hit areas of Tamil Nadu is pathetic even today. Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu roads are generally void of proper road signs. I mean there is no sense and bench-marking of how, where and what kind of road sign should come. I saw the difference in Kerela where road sign made sense at least according to Indian standards. I met few other cross-country motorcyclists and we all had the same problems. On the other hand, throughout entire journey I saw the road building at a feverish pitch. So things are happening. Maybe not at the pace like in IT development but they are happening….good luck !

The bridge in Rameshwaram was a great experience. With all the epic stories coming to mind one tends to get lost in thoughts of legends, folklores and traditions. The route from Tuticorin to Kanyakumari is full of windmills. Hundreds of them dotted around the highway. This is the first time I saw so many of them. A great sight by all means.

The stretch from Alleppey towards Thekkady and Munnar is really a treat to drive and enjoy the tea plantations. From Munnar to Mattupetty there is a very small stretch which reminds me of Switzerland (minus the heat). The elevation of Munnar at around 1500 meters down to Kochi at sea level is connected with a bamboo rich road.

The backwaters of Kerela are unique. The land part in many areas in Alleppey around the backwaters are below the water level. And I didn’t know that backwaters is fresh water. An amazing area where I spent two overnights in a Houseboat as well as a long and extensive early morning ride in a little boat to go deep into the narrow channels where normally the houseboats cannot enter.

Cities, town and people

I love the rural country-side of India. The normal, hard-working people are polite and humble. They may not have the money but they are rich.

Bangalore is a unique example how cities in India grow without any plans. Kerala is quite clean for Indian standards.

Till now I was under the impression that most Indians can speak English but I noticed that most of the rural people do not speak English. The culture and traditions throughout South India really impressed me. People still pay so much of attention to these things which is amazing. It was nice to see women folk dressed in the brightest of colours and men in their white clothings in the mornings.

Road Maps

Well, currently the best Road Map in India is from Eicher (ISBN 81-87780-31-2) with scale 1:1 million in a book form costing 370 INR. Although it is useless for GPS but great for on-the-spot reference and overviews.. As for GPS, I was using Fugawi with various maps on India and generally charting the route and feeding into GPS for navigation. It was some work but it saved me a lot of trouble and many kilometers.

It also helped me in tricky situations while driving through non-existent roads in Tsunami-hit area in late afternoon or in forests of Dandeli to name a few. After a few turns in a clouded weather, you have no sense of direction and nobody around for kilometers to ask. I guess even if you find somebody, language would definitely be a barrier.

Comments

The most irritating part of this trip was the heat and mosquitoes. I carried a local anti-mosquito cream called Odomos. Very effective but when it’s hot, it feels even more sticky in the evenings and in the bed. Next time, I would prefer an anti-mosquito Spray because after spray the skin is dry and not sticky. Makes a lot of difference in the night. Usually, the mosquito army came punctually around sunset and then vanished after 20.00 hrs. But those 3 hours are enough to keep you on the toe.

The heat is sapping and I had to go for air-con everywhere. I saw many tourists enjoying this heat but I preferred air-con, also for a good nights sleep as I was driving alone and could not afford a restless night.

My impressions

For me, with India, it’s a love and hate relationship. The diversity of this country is unique and so is the throbbing democracy. That’s what I wanted to see. It’s varied experiences also helps me keep my feet on the ground with realities. If I could, I would love to do this trip again.

Photographs

Images are GeoCoded but unfortunately Google Earth reference is not available in the SlideShow.

© Ajay Narayan

Dated: 18th March 2007, Zürich