Brian Mendonça
Having just two days
to spare before we buzzed off to Bombay, we decided to drive to Belgaum.
What loomed in front
of me was the spectre of negotiating the Chorla ghat enroute. Many travellers
and drivers in the family spoke about it with great respect after they sped
down the hills to be in sunny Goa, either from Pune or Mumbai.
I carefully allotted
two days for my car to be serviced before the journey. We had already missed the
earlier weekend because house guests backed out of driving a second car citing
health reasons.
Like our earlier road
trips to Malvan and Sawantwadi, I tried not to get stressed out before we
started. At the worst we would turn back.
9 a.m. Sunday. Porvorim.
The odometer showed 1,01,856. I made a mental note of the last four digits, viz
1856 -- one year before the first war of Independence, or the sepoy mutiny, in
India. Would we? Wouldn’t we? After we all said a family prayer in the car, I
shifted gears.
Queenie put on the
GPS on her android phone. For destination we put ‘Sanman Deluxe Hotel.’ 113
kilometres lay before us. Projected time - 2 hours, 51 minutes. I had stayed at
Sanman Hotel with mum and dad prior to 2004. Past Greenpark hotel the ‘aunty’
who gives directions on the Google app woke up. She began guiding us which
roads and which turns to take.
Turning right at
Karaswado, we moved up to ‘Bycoli’ as announced by the Google voice. With my baiko beside me, and my boy in the backseat,
we moved past Bicholim and entered Sanquelim.
And then the road
started squirming and snarling like a snake in stupour. We were heading deep
into the forest skirting the Mhadei wild life sanctuary. The tall trees on
either side were so dense that one could not look through the foliage. Yes, we
were climbing, but the roads were very good.
The pain in my right
ankle was increasing. I feared I would not be able to drive any further. But we
all kept positive during the journey by talking, joking and singing, ‘He’s got
the whole world, in His hands.’
At 11-ish I pulled
over to Shree Krishna Hotel, which was a dhaba
for all practical purposes. My lower body was numb and heavy. I hobbled to the
wash room, and splashed the icy, cool water on my face. We ordered omlet- pav
and tea. My body felt lighter now.
I casually asked the
lady serving us, where we were. She said we were near Kankumbi check post. The
ghat was over. We had done it!
We
resumed our journey towards Belgaum. The roads were wider now and flatter.
Travelling leisurely we rolled in to Belgaum around Woodstock in 1969 on the
odo. Lunch was at Ap-petite the
restaurant at Hotel Eefa. Since we wanted to enjoy the pool we stayed at Hotel
Sankam Residency, Airport Road, which really indulged us.*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
*www.sankam.in Pix taken by Brian Mendonca at Hotel Shree Krishna, near Kankumbi, enroute to Belgaum from Goa on Sunday 13 May 2018. Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 20 May 2018.
Comments