Trippy Wheels

Bangalore:

Once upon a time..when Humans didn’t have to fear fellow humans ,i got a call from my bestie asking me to join a trip she’s taking with her cousins .ME,who didn’t even unpack the bags from my recent trip dreaded the idea of asking my mom to let me go on that trip and dropped it on spot. The sneaky internet somehow started showing signs ,recommending me to take the trip(of course,everything looks like a sign for travellers?)…then something magical happened and we came across some caravan page on insta,we all discussed how everyone wanted to take a caravan trip since childhood but couldn’t

As the tradition goes,a watsapp grp was made and 16 ppl joined out of whom 6 ended up on the trip(everyone was a stranger to someone).being an unplanned trip,everything was made in rush and the caravan ppl were soo good that we almost suspected some fraud action(things society did to us?)

The next night we all boarded a bus from Hyderabad to Bangalore…

Most of us were short on our budgets since it was all sudden,so we made it a goal to make this trip possible under 10k including everything

DAY-1: There we were,stranded on the main road in the middle of busy bangalore traffic waiting for our caravan.an hour passed but there was no sign of our vehicle and we started to regret the decision of trusting some randomn ig page.then,a sudden sign of hope…some blue vehicle was coming our way and happy tears almost rolled down the cheeks only to realise it was a MILK VAN.

After few more furious minutes..there she was,KANASU.we stared at her like a kid would stare at an icecream and then the driver TAJ startled us bringing us back to our senses.

Finally,we began our journey with no plan in our hands but tonnes of excitement in our hearts!!

Sringeri:

We had three options on our mind:shimoga,agumbe ,chikmagalur Like i warned,i believe in signs and someone got a call from granny asking us not to miss shringeri peetam.we all heard of stories about how one could visit the temple only if the goddess calls and no matter how much you plan,you can’t visit the temple without her consent.

We groomed ourselves at some randomn room and began to drive.

The perks of caravan travels include cooking whatever you want,playing board games and all kinds of games and of course peeing whenever you feel like it ?.After 7hrs of strenuous but fun travel through dense forest and u-pin turns we arrived at the majestic shringeri peetam.the temple elephants were just leaving but we greeted them anyways.the keeper was kind enough to take a picture and jaya laxmi ,sree laxmi stole our hearts

Shringeri definitely took a great chunk of our schedule.so,obviously we arrived late at AGUMBE..our second destination.it was already midnight but the hosts were kind enough to offer us dinner.taj helped us set up the campfire and tents.being a rainforest,agumbe attracts thousands of species and is famously known as “the king cobra capital”. You can definitely expect some slimy frogs,spiders and snkes(if you’re lucky enough _?)invading your space:p

DAY-2: Agumbe

Woke up to a beautiful view and puppies licking our legs,had a sumptuous breakfast,went around the place and then rolled over to the next

Udipi:

One of us had already been to udupi and she never missed a chance to brag about the bisi bele bath she had there.iv’e been putting up with her since years but this time,we’ve decided to go there and get a taste of it.started out to UDUPI and we were there by the time we decided who gets to use the aux cable in the vehicle?.after some research,made up our minds to have our lucnch at one of the famous places MTR .

I hate to admit the fact that the bisi billa bath was indeed great and do try out the famous GADBAD ICECREAM of udupi when you are there

St. Marys Island:

We decided to skip the temple and opted for infamous ST.MARY’s ISLAND which turned out to be one of the best places I’ve ever been to.

The trip starts with a boat ride to the island,the rock formations will definitely amaze you.the pristine water and coconut trees took us out of the world for a while

We had to make a move…decided to go to gokarna which was rather a risky decision since the road wasn’t that great and we had long distance to cover but we also had TAJ? (our superman).enroute gokarna..we got to witness one of the best sunsets in our lives,out of nowhere there was a road by the sea and we decided to stop by it,this is probably the best thing about caravan travels!!

If you ask me to design a heaven ..I’d probably put some stars,beautiful full moon,never ending waves and lots of dogs in a place.this is exactly what our night at gokarna looked like.we slept on land staring at the stars sharing the same blanket.taj bhaiyya parked the caravan facing the beach .now i don’t have to tell you what we woke up to?

Ī mīnige eṣṭu? (How much for the fish?), we asked the fisherman, as he prepared to leave for the market. Nīvu adannu hēge bayasutri? (How would you like it?), he asked with a warm smile. It was his first sale of the day. The heat had us submerged neck-deep in the Tungabhadra, as the fish was being prepared for its journey to our kitchen we admired the Vijayanagar ruins a few meters ahead. Surrounded by the riparian vegetation we couldn’t feel more closer to nature. 

Hampi, the city of history and fantasy. A place where its folklore immerses travellers from all around the globe with its omnipresent boulders and picturesque ruins of ancient temples and palaces. It took us nearly a year to form a team of enthusiastic travellers to embark on this journey. Encased in the vermilion El Zorro, we left late in the evening to catch the sunrise amidst the glorious boulders of Hampi. After a few slices of bread and a warm cup of tea at the Hospet Junction, we surrendered to the scorching heat and made our way to the still river of Tungabhadra. 

Adu 500 āgiruttade (that’ll be INR/Rs 500), said the fisherman proudly. After a few words exchanged and
a fishing lesson from the man, he suggested we stay a litle longer for the Water Dogs. Puzzled we looked
at each other. Otters, also known as Wild Water Dogs, are lustrous predators of the Tungabhadra river.
They are the largest known otter species in India.
Dazzled by their swift hunting techniques we treated our eyes with action. Before we could slap the record
button the predators had hunted their prey and they disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Content with
our visit we dried ourselves and hit the road. Our souls, curious as ever, sought a camping spot when, lo
and behold there she lay, pleasant as a Sunday morning and calm as the Virupaksha temple, one of the
oldest functioning temples in India, surrounded by sun-baked hills, straight from Sholay, a turquoise lake.
We then set our tents up, ignited the stove and prepared the fish for the feast.

As dusk approached, our bedrolls unfolded and we comforted ourselves with our choice of beverage under
the clear night sky. Netflix projected on the boulders hosted our evening until the stars took over.
Enlightening us with the fortunate moment of pure beauty that we were amidst. Back in the metropolitan
city, we’d either surround ourselves with work or polluted sky but, here there existed nothing between us
and the glistening beauty above.

The golden rays hit our faces through our caravan’s window, we prepared our breakfast cleared the
spot of any human trace and set out yet again. As we traversed through the mystical hills of Hampi, we
had already decided where we’d spend the rest of our day, at Hippie Island. After a quick water down at
Happy treat and a botle of cold drink, we made our way to the island of vivid culture. Surrounded by
stalls that sold gorgeously carved locks, vibrant outfits, handmade jewellery, and mystical crystals, our
attention was stolen by deliciously displayed Danish mufns and Chocolate dumplings complemented by
a caffeinated beverage that had us on our feet planning for an adventure we knew awaited us in the future.

Three extemporaneous days had passed since we fled the bustling city of Bangalore, yet we still missed out
on the mystical temples and glorious ruins. Distracted by the stillness of untouched water bodies and the
secrets withheld between the crevices of the boulders, we took this as a sign for a revisit in 2020. We were
glad we were signing of 2019 with this memorable trip in our caravan – El Zorro.
To Hampi, To All of Us & To our Trippy
Caravans;
Happy Trippin’!