This Diwali I am spending spent a quiet vacation in Dharwad. The weather is was cool and pleasant - perfect for a vacation. And, by the end of the week, we are back in Mumbai all charged up.
We had 3 weekdays off for the Diwali festival starting Wednesday, and adding the 2 weekend days meant a really long weekend vacation. The decision to visit Dharwad was taken late, and it was quite difficult to get train tickets at such a short notice, so we had to travel by bus. We went by a Volvo bus of VRL Travels, one that has lot of services on this route.
We left on Tuesday evening (after work) and reached back on Sunday (today). The journey to Dharwad on Tuesday was quite tiring - the bus arrived about an hour late (traffic) at our boarding point, there was horrendous traffic (hordes were going away from Mumbai for Diwali), we had a flat tyre, I had dinner at 1:30 a.m., and until 6:30 a.m. in the morning we were still in Kolhapur.
Then, things changed for the better - a new expressway from Belgaum meant that we reached Dharwad in just 2 more hours at around 8:30 a.m.
The return journey was short and with no incidents - we reached in about 8 hours.
In Dharwad, we spent playing (badminton and other iPad games), praying (at various temples), and eating (Diwali!!!). The climate, as I mentioned, was very much pleasant - it was also cold at certain times due to sporadic rains. We spotted several types of birds, and a mongoose and squirrels. Oh! and by the way, although we did not visit the railway station this time, we could still hear the short powerful horns of the diesel locos - no doubt of the WDP4s / WDG4s of the UBL (Hubli) loco sheds.
All in all it was time spent well - a much needed break from the polluted environs and hectic life of Mumbai. I can still feel the cool breeze and the fresh air of Dharwad. Need to stop dreaming and wake up - its back to the grind from tomorrow.
We had 3 weekdays off for the Diwali festival starting Wednesday, and adding the 2 weekend days meant a really long weekend vacation. The decision to visit Dharwad was taken late, and it was quite difficult to get train tickets at such a short notice, so we had to travel by bus. We went by a Volvo bus of VRL Travels, one that has lot of services on this route.
We left on Tuesday evening (after work) and reached back on Sunday (today). The journey to Dharwad on Tuesday was quite tiring - the bus arrived about an hour late (traffic) at our boarding point, there was horrendous traffic (hordes were going away from Mumbai for Diwali), we had a flat tyre, I had dinner at 1:30 a.m., and until 6:30 a.m. in the morning we were still in Kolhapur.
Then, things changed for the better - a new expressway from Belgaum meant that we reached Dharwad in just 2 more hours at around 8:30 a.m.
The return journey was short and with no incidents - we reached in about 8 hours.
In Dharwad, we spent playing (badminton and other iPad games), praying (at various temples), and eating (Diwali!!!). The climate, as I mentioned, was very much pleasant - it was also cold at certain times due to sporadic rains. We spotted several types of birds, and a mongoose and squirrels. Oh! and by the way, although we did not visit the railway station this time, we could still hear the short powerful horns of the diesel locos - no doubt of the WDP4s / WDG4s of the UBL (Hubli) loco sheds.
All in all it was time spent well - a much needed break from the polluted environs and hectic life of Mumbai. I can still feel the cool breeze and the fresh air of Dharwad. Need to stop dreaming and wake up - its back to the grind from tomorrow.
