Skip to main content

Travel tales

I guess the day had to come when I'd finally be traveling alone. All alone. I just didn't think it would come this soon. But it did, and has just passed me by, leaving me feeling very different...older, somehow. It's always pleasant to find out that you really don't mind your own company!

So I traveled down south, Manipal being the exact destination, but having seen a few places--well, airports, really--along the way. The flight to Bangalore was pretty uneventful, the only interesting thing being the conversation between the little boy and his mum sitting next to me ("I know how planes fly!"..."where does all our luggage go?"..."can I open the window?"..."why is it always night in space?"). Aw.

Whizzing to Bangalore in a taxi, I was accompanied by my thoughts and a lot of phone calls. The pleasant weather made my spirit soar, and I could feel a tinge of adventure in the air. Of course, my juvenile sense of humor didn't abandon me, as I waited excitedly for a sign of the Palace Grounds (mainly to send my brother an evil message, this being a sore point with him) and wondering how the Bangalore traffic police manages to feel dignified in their strange uniforms.

The evening was quite a blur, with new friends and cups of tea and random conversations and phone calls and Calvin and Hobbes. An early dinner later, I found myself in a bus with my "new friends", sitting next to a very large human specimen who took up half my seat (no offense, but I was rather miffed). I gave up trying to sleep through his snores after a while, and we made some adjustments that left me sitting by the window, a lot happier despite my poor numbingly-aching legs. Our excited late night repartee about every book imaginable finally culminated when a co-passenger was awoken by the same and proceeded to rudely shush us. Sleep was impossible with the amount of jumping we did at regular intervals (yes, calling the road "bumpy" is definitely an understatement). We finally arrived at our destination around 7 a.m. and awaited the motorcycles.

One thing that I learnt on this trip is how deeply I can sleep. I slept through:
1. Very loud drumming, knocking and banging on my door.
2. About fifteen phone calls. While the phone was vibrating right underneath my head.
3. Seven successive alarms intended to wake the deepest of sleepers (my cousin).

But I did wake up every single morning that I had to get to the conference all by myself and a little earlier than necessary. Fishy, huh?

Comments