This has been an exciting road trip for us. One that we will remember forever!  Apart from the many things we learn during such travels, this trip also helped us to realize that endurance is only a matter of will. For almost all the 10 days, it was waking up early, driving 250-300 kms a day mostly through ghats, searching for hotels in the night, sorting photos & videos and blogging. Internet connectivity was bad to worse in almost all places and blogging typically went till 1-2 am.

There are two things that TGDC gave us. First, a bunch of new friends. And second, a chance to do a road trip through the route that we had been planning for some time.

We dedicate this trip, the experiences and the blog to all 10000+ couples who applied (some of them have now become good friends), all the TGDC fans, our friends who followed us, a whole bunch of bloggers whom we have never met but became our fans, some of our colleagues who stepped in at office at the right time, a few people whom we met on the road and started following TGDC, the crew who followed us patiently, and the entire TGDC team who was ever ready to help us.

Our first post on Day 1 was about them. At the end of 10 days, we got to know them a little more. Listen to them.

Here are a few shots/stories – which we did not post earlier because we thought the ones we posted were more interesting.

Man tilling a field
Oxen/bullocks tilling fields are a common sight. For the first time, we saw two men tilling a paddy field – one pulling the plough and the other behind it. For the farmers who do not own cattle or have the means to rent one would not have a choice!

Mineral check post
We have seen check posts of various departments – Forests, RTO, Octroi, Sales Tax, Excise…. But this is the first time we saw a Mineral check post (at Dandeli – Belgaum road). Illegal mining used to thrive in many parts of western ghats. Perhaps, that might be the reason

‘Ye race gaadi hey’
On common comment we came across from various people about the car is ‘race car’. School children, petrol bunk operators, traffic policemen, shop keepers, guests in some of the hotels….

One more reason to blog
This was Mr. Gupta, whom we met at Bandekars at Dandeli. When he heard that we have to blog every day, this is what he told us.

Rasta roko
When these four-leggers take charge of the road, we have to just wait.

Don’t stay here after finishing your work

This one was at the public toilet at Jog Falls.

Siesta at Bandekar’s
An hour of rest at Bandekars.

Once we wished for a ‘car treadmill’
From the second day, most of our drive was through ghats and odometer was moving very slowly. We were not able to log in 300 kms on many days and the backlog increased. If we try to cover distance fast, scope of getting stories becomes less. So we thought, “If only we could put the car on a treadmill in the night…”. On the last 2-3 days we managed to cover more distance and still get some interesting stories.

One of the oldest schools in Asia

Right in Panaji city is Goa’s High Court buildings. But what many might not know is that these buildings were one of the oldest schools in Asia and are over 350 years old.

The buildings are now renovated and house the High Court. The school, renamed after Goa’s famed freedom fighter Dr. T B Cunah, has moved to new premises.

‘Memorial’ for a smuggler

Charles Shobraj was a sensation when we were in school. He was arrested in 1986 from Goa. The restaurant, O’ Coqueiro, from where he was arrested now has a memorial for him! A life-size sculpture of Charles Shobraj with chained hands.

We wanted to speak to some old timers in the restaurant who could narrate the drama to us. Only to find that none of the current employees were there at that time. The owner at that time sold the hotel many years ago. The sculpture was made by the current owner in 2003.

There are two versions of the stories of Shobraj’s arrest. One is that he asked the restaurant manager to inform the police that about his presence in the restaurant, in order to get arrested in India than in Nepal. The other story is that Shobraj was caught unawares while having a sumptuous meal in disguise. Whatever that may be, we found this memorial interesting.