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Day 3 & 4 (Goa, Goa to Hampi)
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Day
3 was a typical Goan day. I spent it relaxing and clearing the mind
about the past and the future. The future at the moment consisted
primarily of the rest of this journey one had set out on for 74
days. I feel it's very important on a long trip like this to have
such a day towards the beginning of the trip, as by this time one
has a basic idea of how the journey is going to run and clears one's
mind about what to be prepared for. It also charges you up to take
on all the challenges that may come your way. So thanking Goa for
preparing me for the remainder of the journey, I set out with a
big smile in anticipation of exploring a very major chunk of my
beautiful country. Today we were headed to a fascinating place,
Hampi. A place that truly transports you back to another era altogether.
An archaeological wonder, the little town takes you down the lanes
of history around every corner of its quaint narrow alleyways. The
Italians and the Ferraris got their first true taste during the
journey of what could be expected on the highways of India - natural
creations as well as man-made. After seeing how gingerly the cars
had to be driven on the road after turning from Karwar, I was so
glad we had made them cancel the section via Dharwar, which we had
scouted earlier. I'll just put it this way that the Iveco would
have had a lot of fun on that road but the Ferraris may have reached
their destination in time to celebrate Christmas, maybe.
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 Discussion
on the coming days of the expedition in true Goan Style |
 Goa like I'd never seen it before and day that will remain etched in my mind forever |
The journey went very well, keeping well to the planned schedule. The fields en route where we had photographed endless sights of growing red chillies had now been harvested and in their place could be seen vast farmlands of cotton plants. A few last piles of the chillies could still be seen but none in sizes we had witnessed just a month ago. Things were all going smooth and I had just opened my mouth foolishly to say we should be perfectly on time at the destination, when the expedition arrived at it's first traffic jam worthy of writing about. Initially inquiries were made regarding possible alternate routes but soon everyone reconciled to the fact that there was no getting out of it and one was at the mercy of the men in uniform ahead trying, quite in vain, to sort out the mess. Amazingly, the jam had been caused by people going down the wrong side, and despite knowing this, more kept streaming past! So this didn't happen only in Delhi! It continued until a brave local, brandishing a very solid club of wood, shooed them all back in reverse, right where they'd come from. A little later, some movement began and there was a ray of hope! Laptops, Ipods, etc. were out all across our convoy. I was in the Iveco and Luca even made a brilliant edit of the footage shot thus far! Almost 2 hours after we'd come to a halt, the slow drive covering the last 2 km into Hospet, adjoining Hampi, finally began. |
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We
were staying at the Mayura Bhuwaneshwari, which was located only
4 km from main Hampi. This was great as it meant a short drive the
next morning for the day trips and outings for filming. On getting
out I checked the expressions on the Ferrari engineers' faces. The
fatigue, more due to the long periods spent in the state of inertia,
was thankfully not in addition to stressed or worried minds. The
Ferraris had obviously fared well despite the adverse conditions,
a relief to not just them, but to everyone on the trip. A lot of
the south of India follows the matriarchal ways of society and it
was interesting to watch the Italians in the group responding to
the ladies working at the hotel, including a middle-aged lady who
insisted on taking the luggage to the rooms. I just couldn't get
myself to let her take my bags and kept her mind occupied by chatting
with her as I took my stuff to the room. I had a very peaceful sleep
that night for some reason, made sweeter the next morning by the
news that some other people bringing some spare tyres had been stuck
in the same jam for over 6 hours! Apologies for the selfishness
but frank enough to admit I was very glad that hadn't happened to
us!
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 The group faces it's first proper traffic jam that lasted just under 2 hours |
