“Dakshinayan” - Road Trip - 2
13th December, 2015
Belgaum
I woke up at 5:30 in the morning. A perfect time to wake up. I had slept at 9:30 pm the previous night and that’s why I could sleep better and wake up with abundance of energy. I wish I could follow the same schedule once I’m back home in Mumbai. I slid the curtains of the window to take a look outside. It was still dark. I didn’t feel like going back to bed. I took out the Kindle and started reading a book, ‘Alchemist’ by Paulo Cohelo. I really love the writing style of Paulo Cohelo. His books are rich in philosophy and spirituality.
Usually I prefer to leave early and reach early, but during my talk with Mr. Anand Patil the day before, I had inquired about the road condition till Hampi. He said “You are in Karnataka now. Don’t worry about the conditions of the roads at all. The entire state has good roads. 10 years ago the situation was different but it has changed now. You can reach your destination in no time”. That was a relief. I knew I’m going to enjoy today’s ride because of the roads, and I had to travel 264 kms today to reach Hampi. The resort offered a complementary breakfast (which, actually is charged to us but smartly missing in our final checkout bill). I decided to have breakfast at the resort so that I don’t have to stop anywhere during the ride for food. I can just reach Hampi for lunch. I stuffed the Kindle back in my bag and left for the dining hall. It was around 8 am. I was told that the breakfast would be served at 8. I was the first one to reach there.
The staff was still making arrangements for breakfast. I asked a guy how much time it would take for the breakfast to be ready, to which said just 10 minutes more. I decided to wait in gallery of the dining hall till they make arrangements. The dining hall was on a first floor. The resort being on the lower ground, the gallery was in level with the roads. From the gallery I could see a huge lake right in front of me. I wondered how come I did not notice this lake yesterday. And I recalled an earlier learnt lesson that ‘our eyes see only what our mind wants to see’. The day before, my only priority was to find a decent accommodation, therefore I could not notice the lake. I saw many people taking morning walk and jog on a paver block track built around the lake. The lake had tall fences from all the sides. I came back to the dining area and asked one of the staff about the lake. He said the track is around the lake is around 6 kms long and should take about 45 mins to 1 hour to cover. The entry point for the lake was just half a kilometer from the resort. I was tempted to have a walk around the lake. I told him that I’m heading out for a walk around the lake. I’ll have my breakfast later. He said “Sir breakfast is ready, please have your breakfast first and then you can go for a walk”. I agreed and stuffed myself with a delicious breakfast.
I headed out for a walk. Entered the lake garden and stood before the lake, to take in the view. The lake was huge and there was a little island with tall trees in the middle of the lake water. There was a fountain machine near northern bank of the lake and a childrens park right next to it. Some people were walking while others, mostly in jogging suit, were running. I noticed most of the people were walking in clockwise direction around the lake. Therefore I decided to walk in anti- clockwise direction. I took out my phone and captured some beautiful views of the lake. I took my time to walk slowly around the lake and enjoyed my walk and the view. I had totally forgotten that I had to ride to Hampi on the same day. Once I came back to the starting point, I sat on a bench nearby and just kept looking at the small waves on the lake water. I spotted two swans who came out of the water and sat on the ground. As the sun rose higher the cold climate started turning hot. I suddenly realized that I have to leave for Hampi. I walked my way back to the resort.
I checked out from the resort and loaded my bike with my backpack, saddle bag and tank bag. I wanted to meet Mr. Anand Patil before leaving but I could not see him anywhere. I hit the road and was on my way to Hampi. The ride towards Hampi was really good. The roads were good and I was enjoying seeing the curvy road unwinding itself before my bike. After few hours ride I looked up at the blue sky and noticed hundreds of small clumps of clouds. All these clumps were maintaining same distance from each other as if they were arranged by an engineer. It reminded of the opening shot of the movie “Toy Story”. Andy’s room in that movie had a wallpaper with this pattern. On the horizon I could see a series of perfectly aligned and perfectly spaced tall towers. After few minutes I started seeing three blades attached on the top of each tower. They were wind mills. All the windmills were dancing like a belly dancer. It was an effect caused by the mixture of cold and hot air between a viewer and a distant object. I even saw a huge mirage on the road. I overtook a truck carrying a huge windmill blade.
When I reached near the wind mills I stopped to take a look. Some windmills were standing in the middle of a farm whereas some were on a barren lands. While I was capturing photos of wind mills a small kid on cycle came near me. He must be about 12-15 years old. He spoke to me in a language I did not understand. I told him “Sorry kid, I don’t understand your language”. He again said something and I only understood the word ‘Camera’. He was point at the action camera that I had hooked on my chest. I guessed that he wanted to know if it was a camera. I pointed a finger at my action camera and said “Yes, Yes, It is a camera”. He looked into my camera and gave a smile. Sadly, the camera was off at that time. The kid didn’t know it. He hopped on his bicycle said bye to me and left. I smiled and waved back at him. I took a left turn and entered a town named “Koppal”.
