Day 20: Of better roads, faster speeds and expensive toll tickets

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the roads are getting better. The distances remain the same but the travel times have reduced marginally but that has led to massive toll bills. You see, infrastructure and fixed costs go hand in hand. Well, we are not complaining as we’ve been thoroughly enjoying our fast stints in the Kwid. The tiny hatch is really apt at breaking the mould and proving time and again that it can excel everywhere, and not just in its comfort zone – urban settings.

Coimbatore is one of my favourite cities in Tamil Nadu and the drive to get here is always special. It also reminds me of Pune; it’s surrounded by lush green mountains, the climate is amazing and it has a large lake in the middle of the city. I’m not saying that Pondicherry was boring, no that isn’t the case. But as I was told, it was nowhere close to what we have closer to our home, Goa. In fact, I’d say that this is how Goa would look like for a retired person. The famous Promenade is very similar to Worli Seaface, Mumbai. However, the iconic Mahatma Gandhi statue, also called as Gandhi Mandapam is the largest Gandhi statue in the whole of Asia. The French colony has its own charm although its highly guarded by the police and we could barely visit any places, as we’d have liked to. The Kwid found a fan here though, who has been driving one of his own since 2 years and was happy to see our livery. We also learnt a few history lessons about the iconic Aurobindo Ashram Homê after a quick stroll around the quaint streets of the town.

And then we were off to Coimbatore, but not without crossing the borders and heading to Kerala. Yes, the trip to Kerala was limited only to Palakkad as we have to cover a lot more distance in the following days. So we first headed straight past Coimbatore and onto Malampuzha, a small town on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border and clicked a few pictures of the best church in the place. They say, Kerala’s churches have their own flavour when it comes the architecture. This one was no different. A special mention goes to the road though, it was one of the best roads to drive on in the South Indian leg of this drive. I’m already contemplating an ADV ride here!

Tomorrow is a short drive to Bengaluru, a distance of merely 360km. We are planning to unwind a bit and recharge ourselves for the long journey on the following day to Goa, not that we needed any further encouragement to head to Goa. Don’t forget to tune in.

Click here to read the previous blogs on the 29 States 29 Days challenge.