Tag Archives: Adventure Travel

Road to London # 11 – Driving Duration a Day

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In continuation of earlier blog RTL # …………………………

Having decided to make this trip, I had to plan my itinerary.  Once a date is frozen, planning various aspects of the travel becomes even more energised.  It inspires you to study and enjoy planning.  We would cross the Indian border from Manipur to Myanmar  on 16 April 2017.  Keeping a buffer for unexpected events, we plan to reach there a day in advance.  I back-calculated to fix a departure date from home.  I laid down some basic principles:

  • No night-driving.   Of course, we drive carefully.  But we cannot control how others on the road drive. It is said that the highest number of drunk drivers are on road between midnight and 3AM. Supposedly, fatal crashes are four times higher at night than during the day. Right from the time I started driving in 1973, I have preferred to drive only in daylight.   On rare occasions,  I drive at night, that too only on well lit roads that have dividers.  For long drives, I make it a point to start early in the morning and break for the day by 3 or 4PM. So, you safely reach the destination by sunset, even if there is any delay due to congestion.
  • Comfortable number of hours per day. I initially considered driving 8 hours a day.     Normally, for a full day’s drive you need an extra 30-35% of drive time for rest and food breaks.

    Pushpa Getting Ready to Drive to London

    That would mean a total travelling time of 10 to 11 hours a day.   A 6AM start gets you to the destination by 4 or 5 pm.  This is not difficult.  Especially, with Pushpa taking up a couple of hours of driving, it seemed quite comfortable.

Once Nishi confirmed to join us, I revised the drive time.  8 hours in the car for two and a half months is a bit much. To maintain excitement till the end, I had to make it interesting and not tiring for the child. Till we reach the Indian border, I revised the drive time to an average of about 6 hours per day. Including breaks, it would still add up to 8 hours a day.  A little delayed start every morning, say at 7 or even 8AM would take us to the revised destination by 3AM. That gives us enough time for a comfortable breakfast, have lunch on the way and reach the destination by the time we are ready for a mid-afternoon snack.  It also left scope to spend about 2-3 hours to visit interesting places around the destination or on the way.  Or just relax.

  • Break from driving. After every 3-4 days, I scheduled a day’s rest. At most, we could go for nominal sight-seeing.  I’ve made a list of interesting sites on the route.
  • Booking accommodation – tricky business. Our dates of travel coincide with peak holiday season: March-June.  Choice hotels during this period are booked well in advance particularly at tourist cities, forest resorts and sanctuaries.  It is important to have right spots to stay in places like Darjeeling, Gangtok, Cherrapunjee, Kaziranga etc.  The earlier one books, the better the options.
    • Selecting accommodation for the 24 nights in India was a little tricky.  It was necessary to consider certain important factors.   I prefer hotels on the highway rather than those in the city. That would save time of negotiating downtown streets.
    • If we find out about spots worth visiting but unknown to me as of now, we should have the flexibility to change the itinerary.  That would mean changing hotel bookings. Therefore, even if it meant paying a little more, I opted for bookings that allowed cancellation or changes free of cost.
    • We need a decent hotel each day. If we are tempted by a good hotel, and cut our journey short on a particular day, it will be difficult to cover the extra distance, the next day.  At the same time stretching longer on a particular day to get to an attractive hotel can make the journey tiring.
    • We know many people who live in towns that are on our route. They have graciously asked us to stay with them. It is always a pleasure to stay with relatives and friends.  Staying with them give us time to interact on the local conditions, activities and culture.  But many a time, a lot of time is lost in formalities.   Excessive insistence in eating is a problem that disrupts the digestion system – which we cannot afford.  Hence, we have chosen to decline some of these offers.

After considering these parameters, I booked accommodation.  I had a real tough time to fix locations on certain stretches like Mumbai to Ayodhya and Varnasi to Darjeeling.

Of course, there have been many revisions in the itinerary.    And every change in itinerary, even it is of a single day resulted in a series of changes in accommodation.  With every change, I changed hotel bookings.  I don’t want to miss out on any sites, just because I had to put in some extra effort. I did not lose my patience. Though confusing and complicated, I started enjoying and learning out of it. It is good I had ‘free cancellation’  terms in my bookings!

I have revised my itinerary almost 10 times and I had to change hotel bookings on all 10 revisions!

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

To be continued……………..

Road To London # 9 – My Brave Bachchus

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In continuation of earlier blog RTL # 8 – The Influential Hidden Character

The route I planned for my route within India, from Mumbai to Imphal would pass through places of historical and religious importance, national parks and sanctuaries, entertainment centers and caves, toy trains and ropeways etc.  These are the places which would be of special interest to children.  We would also be embracing through some of the most beautiful places in the world.  Any one passing through these would develop a special relation with nature.

Generally the inbuilt dangers of adventure travel are hyped.  They are projected as much more dangerous than they actually are.  This discourages youngsters to take such trips.

One of my grandchildren Nishi was with us in the 9-day Iceland driving trip.  Inspite of

all the known fears, Nishi joined us for Iceland.  During problematic situations there, Nishi proved to be the calmest and bravest amongst the three of us.  Any problem we had, whether it was on top of a lava or an ice mountain, mobiling on glacier, running around huge waterfalls, she smilingly enjoyed facing them, as if she was playing a new game. I realised during that trip that kids are in fact, more mature in handling problems!  I was wondering if I could create some interest in such travels in the youngsters of our family.

I have four grandchildren.  One is just 3 years old and the other three are in the 9-14 age range.   I thought it would be great if the children joined the journey.  It would be a life-time experience for them at such a young age.

I sent a message to my children, inviting any one grandchild to join us.

Yes, “any one” was for a good reason. The travel is scheduled at exam season. Naturally they hesitated.  We got “no” as an answer from all of them. Never mind!

After a week or so, Nishi and her parents, Nilesh and Seema, probably re-thought about the opportunity. They asked if it was too late to for Nishi to join us, subject to her permissions from her school.

Nishi lives in Chelmsford, Essex, UK.   Her school authorities were extremely excited about the experience she would get in this trip!  They were thrilled in an instant and granted her special permission. The Head of Academics wrote, “What a fantastic experience (it would be)! Nishi’s teachers are aware that she will be absent and nearer the time I will liaise with them in order to ensure work is provided for Nishi whilst she is away…..We very much look forward to hearing all about Nishi’s travels when she returns!”.  Fantastic!  What a positive approach and support from the school! Nishi confirmed to take the journey with us.

Once I had the confirmation from Nishi, I added a few places en-route which would be of special interest to her.  But I did not extend beyond 21 days. I deleted some of the places of lesser importance.  I revised my itinerary.  Probably, by now it has had 10+ revisions.  I back-calculated and provisionally fixed 26th March 2017 as the day for departure from Mumbai.

Thereafter my other grand daughter Ruhi, settled in Pune, also expressed her interest to

join us.  We reconsidered, if we could accommodate her too.  But, then we had to be practical.  It was a long journey.  We weren’t comfortable with the idea of more than three persons + luggage to survive for that duration, in one car!  Pushpa and I are in our 60s and 70s.  Managing ourselves and our health itself is a good enough challenge!  We could manage one child.  Managing two children and their health could potentially become difficult on a long journey. Against our own wishes, we had to restrict to one child only.

A week after, I sought the blessings of our Guruji, Jagathguru Sri Sridharacharyaji of Ayodhya.  I explained our plans.  He called back to say that I should change the date of departure.    I could not have shortened the number of days as it was already hectic.  Nor did I want to miss any of the selected places.  Undoubtedly, leaving a day or two earlier would provide a slight relief to the itinerary.  Guruji therefore, fixed the flag off time as 10 am on Friday, 24th March 2017 as auspicious!

So it is now 23 days of travel from West to East of India, before we cross Indian borders.

That is not all,,,,,, abhi picture baaki hai!

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

  To be continued …………………

Road to London # 13 – The Route

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                            Continued from Road to London # 12 – “Soham”, the Companion….

Right from the beginning, we knew that driving to London through the Western borders would mean going through Pakistan and Afghanistan, which might not be the safest route. The Himalayan mountain range on the North and oceans on the South rule out those routes. That left only the Eastern route through China.  There are roads linking from Nepal and North-Eastern parts of the Indian border, but entry is restricted only for the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage.   Thus we had to cross China, some parts of the old USSR, now countries like Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, certain European countries before we reach United Kingdom. This is a drive of about 45 days from the time we cross the Indian border.  This itinerary was considered as almost final for the tour.

Pushpa & Badri Baldawa with Soham

Pushpa & Badri Baldawa with Soham

Myanmar is a country I have been wanting to visit for long.  I heard of it as Burmah where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose founded the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) to fight for independence. The ruling military junta changed its name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989.

However there was an update that though the entry point in Myanmar is safe, the exit point, Muse was not very peaceful.  Therefore the route to China had to be changed.  The best practical alternative was to drive to Thailand, cut across Laos and then enter China. This added two countries to the itinerary and increased the overseas travel from 45 to 47 days and the number of countries from 14 to 16.

We need to drive for a fortnight to cross the Chinese territory and reach Kyrgyzstan.  I was very happy when I realised our next destination country was Uzbekistan. It would give us an opportunity to visit Tashkent where our former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri breathed his last. From there on to Kazhakstan before we touch the border of Russia.

As per the original plans we planned to enter Belarus through the Kurgan border from Moscow. It

From Mumbai - Road to London

From Mumbai – Road to London

was not possible to get vehicle permits for Belarus from Russia.  In October 2016, the Belarus–Russia border was closed to foreigners.  Therefore, the itinerary had to be re-routed again.   Instead of entering through Belarus, we would now drive further north and enter European Union through Latvia and Lithuania.  The onward drive thereafter is easy through Czechoslovakia, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France and finally to The United Kingdom.  Once we enter UK at its South East, we would drive to London.  This revision added two more days to the itinerary.

However this created another technical problem.  If we left the Indian border as per original schedule on 16 April 2017, we reach the China border on a Sunday.  The border is closed on Sundays. Hence the departure from India was postponed to 17 April 2017.

All these changes made the total countries visited from the original 15 to 18 (excluding Bhutan).   The total number of overseas driving days increased from 45 to 49.   Add to that the 23 days drive to reach the Indian border. The total duration of the tour now is at a total of 72 days!

The action begins in less than 10 days on 24th March 2017. We would love to see you all cheer us when we leave at a small flag-off event. Please do come!

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

To Be Continued ………….

Road Trip to London # 6 – Family Consent

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In continuation of earlier blog RTL #5 Fitness Matters……...

I was worried that when I express my desire to do a Mumbai-London driving trip, I will have to go through a bout of medical exams.

Way back in 2008, I had proposed to trek Mt. Everest base camp.  My wife is too good a lady and encourages me to do whatever I like!  My daughters were excited and slightly hesitant respectively.  But the son resisted,  “Mt. Everest is not for senior citizens.  It is considered very risky.”  I appreciate my children for their love!  I had to undergo a series of medical and stress tests as prescribed by my daughter, Seema and son-in-law, Nilesh, both doctors by profession, practicing in the UK. I passed these tests with flying colours!

On my trek to Mt Everest in 2008

I had lower spondylitis and syncope problems.  They did not make that an issue.  I did not highlight it to them either.  But they probably did not know the details of four cervical slip discs and a misaligned toe.   Except these, I did not hide anything from them! Other than these, I was physically fit.   Even in academic examinations 40% is considered pass.  So I thought I have passed my physical fitness exams.

It was only during this Mt Everest trek that I learned from the guide that it was vital that even the slightest of health problems like headache or lack of appetite or sleep ought to be revealed to the organisers.  Thereafter, I have been more transparent about my health matters with my family.

I was 63 then.  Now I am 72.

Their love continues to flow with even more intensity.  My son, Anand probably loves me the most and hence is the most cautious.  His was the first resistance I had to pass through for my Road To London adventure. It is a long trip with a lot of inbuilt risks.He was not in town when I had made the decision to go on this trip.  Since, it was an impromptu decision, I could not wait for him to be back in 3-4 days. I sent Anand the details I had. This time too I did not hide anything from him except…….!  I was anxiously waiting for his reaction.

“Enjoy the trip – it should be good fun” was Anand’s response. I was surprised by his support. But it was a conditional “yes”. I am a little carefree about trip gear, in general. I didn’t even carry trekking poles for the Mt. Everest trek! But Anand extra-cautious about any of our journeys, even the local ones, and rightly so. I wanted to drive the distance in my favourite Skoda Superb.  Anand’s condition was that the vehicle I would use would be of his choice!  He had traced what I was trying to hide.

No one else had any concerns. Everyone was thrilled at the thought of such a venture.

                                          To  be continued ….RTL # 7 – Route Across India………………….

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

 

Road to London #3 – Day Dreaming

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An email to me on  20 May 2016 read:

We are finally ready to execute the most extraordinary road trip that without a doubt is going to be a journey that you will go on telling your grandchildren about!

Can you handle the thought of a road trip from India all the way to London?

……… unknown, unheard of villages and towns on the way, forests, deserts, mountains, rivers, high altitudes, remote terrains, bustling cities, new cultures, exotic foods…

If you are still interested in doing a road trip from India to UK, here is your chance to join us on this mother of all road trips!

A quick look at the route and I figured that from my place in Mumbai, it meant a distance of 20,000kms, across 15 countries, over a period of about 70 days in 8 time zones. In fact, it would be more thrilling as the route would pass through more geographical variations and include areas inhabited by Bodos, Naxalites and Maos even before I cross the Indian borders!  Wow!

I was super excited!

Around 2010, on a flight to UK with Pushpa, I looked outside the window through the flight.  I could overlook the city of Mumbai, the vast seas, mountains, dense clouds and then the shining, snow-topped Alps and finally the British channel and the city of London.  I told Pushpa how interesting it would be if we could drive from Mumbai to London one day!

“Yes, exciting!  Why not we do it?”  she replied as if it was a casual drive from home to the movie theatre!

“This is what people call day dreaming” I laughed out.

I studied the atlas, glanced the globe in my office and did a bit of Google mapping.  The only route I could think of was to pass through the western borders of India, through the Middle East and Meditarrean countries, reach Europe and end up in London via the English Channel.

There was a small problem on this route.  One could cross borders and get lost for ever!  Because it meant passing through countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria, we might not be seen again!  Too big a risk.  I had also heard of the unsuccessful incident where three Indians who had tried this.  For some technical reason they were arrested as they entered Afghanistan and were sent back after a week’s experience in prison!

What were the alternatives?  While Himalayan Mountains would not permit to drive through the North, the Indian Ocean would obstruct in the South.  The very realisation that going through the East would more than double the distance, I did not even consider that route.   I gave up at that time but always felt one day I would be able to make that trip.

In Nov 2012, I read that one Tushar drove from London to Delhi.with his group.    They opted for the Russian countries, China and then to India.   I figured that I had not completely explored the route though the East.   Though longer, it is a feasible one.    In fact, that would make travelling in a small group more fun.  I contacted Tushar and his colleague Sanjay in case they had plans to make a similar trip again.

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

Road to London #4 – An Impromptu Decision

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“Pushpa, there is this road-trip, self-drive to London from India.  It is about two and a half months long.  Should we?”  I called Pushpa within moments of getting an email to the effect on 20th May 2016.   She was on a train from Rishikesh.

“Yes! Let’s do it!” she said without waiting even for a second. A green signal from my better half and I was confident of convincing other members of my family.  Within a few minutes I gave our provisional confirmation to join the expedition – “Road to London”.

As I confirmed, I wondered if this was a hasty decision. My memories reeled me back.

Over fifty five years ago, near my native town Bellary, the Tungabhadra dam was inaugurated.  Anyone who visited the site came back only with praises. I too wanted to visit the place.  I was school-going child back then.  My mother gave me Rs. 5 for the trip.  Bus or train was unaffordable.  I convinced some friends to pedal the total distance of 130 kilometers on rented bicycles.  To make the trip affordable, we decided to ride “double seat”.

Since the load of two people would be difficult to take through, the person at the back had to help peddle along with the main rider – two legs pedalling on each side!  If anyone was tired of pedalling or plays smart and say he was tired, he would have the comfort of sitting on the front pipe and get exemption from pedalling – a smart punishment we thought to have the bottom hurt by the pipe.  It was two days full of fun!  It was a thrilling to try to do the unexpected!  It was a challenge!  And I was crazy to accept and face the challenge!

Later in life, my wife and I wanted to watch the midnight Sun and fulfil my childhood dream.  I figured that it could be best watched from Nordkapp (North Cape) in Norway.  In 1983, I decided to reach Nordkapp on the midnight of 25 July.  I reached Narvik from Oslo by a luxurious train.  There was no regular public transport facility from Narvik to Nordkapp. But hey, I could enjoy driving that distance on an European road.  By the standards of European roads, I could drive those 800km in say 8 or at the most 10 hours.  I planned accordingly.

Those were the days when there were no internet or Google or GPS.

As I started driving from Narvik, I was surprised with the shocking road condition.  It was all  broken,  narrow single,  rugged, kutchha roads.  It was inevitable, since most of the year those roads were covered with snow. I was determined to be punctual for my date with the midnight Sun.   Not just that.   I had my flight booking for my next flight from Oslo.  I had to reach Nordkapp and return by the same road in time.  I’d have to drive continuously for 46 hours without sleep or break.  It was a thrill to reach on time to enjoy the best.  It was a challenge!  And I was crazy to accept and face the challenge!

A few years later, missing a train turned out for the best.  We planned a Badrinath Char Dham Yatra.  We were to travel by train upto Delhi and then engage a cab to complete the rest of the journey.   Our shipment (business) was delayed by a day due to some objections raised by the Customs department.  Despite having buffer time for contingencies, by the time the shipment was completed, we missed the train.  It was difficult to get new reservations as this was peak travel season  We decided to leave by car within the hour.  Just five of us, Pushpa, our children and me. No driver.  We drove right upto Badrinath temple via Rajasthan, a round trip of about 6,000 kilometers.   We faced problems and we learnt how to resolve them.

On that journey, there was an incident that inspired me to start trekking.  I will leave that incident for another time. After that trip, we started trekking to various places including Amarnath, Hemkund Saheb and Mt Kailash Parikrama.   Meeting Peter Hillary, the son of Edmund Hillary inspired me to trek to Mt Everest.

Except Mt Everest, Pushpa and I trekked together.  After 55, Pushpa developed a knee joint problem.   It became difficult for her to undertake long and steep treks.  Without her I did not feel like going for treks either.  We switched over to driving expeditions instead of trekking.  I had heard that driving in Iceland was extremely difficult and risky.  We went for driving adventure with our granddaughter Nishi, Seema’s daughter in Iceland.

You see the pattern? Whenever I hear of a particularly difficult trip, I like to take up the challenge.

It is no surprise then, that the very idea of driving for over two months in unknown and diversified territories was something I’d want to do. Maybe that is why the impulse decision.  I couldn’t control my excitement joined the “Drive to London” group, as if it would have slipped away if I had delayed confirmation for a few minutes!

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

Road to London #2 – A Unique Attempt

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I am writing to request your thoughts, comments, blessings, cooperation and support in an extraordinary adventure that I plan to undertake…

…that of self-driving a distance of 20,000 kms from Mumbai to London, over 68 days through 16 countries and 100+ cities!

…that of chaperoning my 9-year old grand daughter along with my 63-year old wife through a long, once-in-a-lifetime journey covering off-beaten tracks, rugged mountains, deserts and sand dunes, dense forests and snow, high altitudes, heritage sites, highways and cities!

Before you say more about risk and raise concerns (and thank you for that!), please rest assured that this is not my first endeavour into adventure (my close family will attest to that!). I have been an adventure-thrill seeker through my life, especially after the age of 45

  • At the age of 70, in 2015, I self-drove 8+ days through Iceland’s rough and risky terrains, with my wife and then 7-year old granddaughter. This included some glacier walking as well as snow mobil-ing.
  • At 65, I organised a group of 90 pilgrims to Kailash-Mansarovar for a charitable purpose. It is a journey many dream to accomplish at least once in their lifetime. It is also considered extremely difficult and life threatening.
  • In 2009, my wife and I were the first Indians to land at 90° North and float on a sheet of ice. There is nothing to it’s north and that spot on earth has no longitude, no time-zone.  It was all to experience the place where the Sun and the Moon rise and set, only once a year!  We were on the only nuclear powered vessel capable of navigating to this place.
  • We also challenged ourselves to participate in the ritualistic “polar plunge”. Not stating the obvious, but this act is considered (silly and) fatal if one stays in for more than a few seconds.
  • In 2008, at 63, Mr. Peter Hillary, Edmund Hillary’s son personally inspired me to take the Mt. Everest Base Camp trek, considered demanding and deathly. I trekked with only one sherpa for company (i.e. it was not an organized group tour).
  • In 2005-06, my wife and I also travelled and trekked through all of South America (including staying in the dense Amazon forests) and set foot on Antarctica, where the most common inhabitants are penguins and the temperature of -30°
  • In 2004, my wife and I climbed to an altitude of over 19,000 feet to perform the Mt. Kailash parikrama (at ages 60 and 51). This was without any guided help!
  • 25+ years ago, in 1988, I drove my family from Mumbai to the top of Badrinath temple (now in Uttarakhand) in a Honda Civic. This was 5,500+ kms of heart-throbbingly bad roads – especially for a stick shift, sedan! (If you are aware of the Indian road conditions today, just imagine what they were almost all those years ago!)
  • A little before that, in 1987, my wife and I drove from Oslo through the broken roads of Nordkap to experience Norway’s Midnight Sun.

This is a glimpse of the many thrilling, exciting and hair-raising adventures I have been lucky to be a part of, but I would refrain myself from getting nostalgic here! After all, over the years I have travelled to 55+ countries whilst my wife has visited 43.

Academically, I am a qualified Chartered Accountant as well as a Cost Accountant.  However, I have been a first generation entrepreneur for most of my life. In 1986, I quit my (then) 18-year old professional career in the Middle East to come back to India and start on my own.

My learnings in life – personal and professional as well as my travel experiences and expeditions are (slowly, but steadily) being documented on my blog (please write to me if you want to get updates on e-mail).

In fact, I plan to capture my upcoming “driving expedition” on a day-to-day basis, perhaps even on a real time basis (using a GoPro camera).  Our expedition will cut across India, West to East, crossing about 10 states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.  Once we cross India, we will pass through Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and finally the UK.    It will be the rarest of rare travels – not to mention the various challenges we will face driving through such varied landscape.  This event is expected to create a record in Limca Book of Records and possibly be a Guinness World Record too (I am in conversation with them on this front.)

However, more importantly, this road adventure is personally very dear to me because I intend to spread a personal message that “age is no bar if your mind is determined and your body taken care of”; That, if one keeps themselves fit, age cannot hold you from extra-ordinary feats – be it a child of 9 years, a grandmother at 63 or a grandfather at 72.

Over the past few years, I have seen and read about kids and adults living their life more as an obligation, coupled with neglect of their health. People have almost forgotten to “live” their life…not realising that in the end, it is not the years in your life that matter, but the life in the years!

It goes without saying that such an adventure involves a lot of planning and budgeting, and as such, we are looking for “like-minded” individuals or organisations who believe in our belief and are keen to participate and partner with us; or if you know someone who would be interested. If you are, please do write to me at the below details and I would be happy to sit down and share additional details. Your assistance and cooperation will help create awareness as well as generate interest, curiosity and perhaps inspire others!

I am hoping that with your support we will be able to spread the message to an even wider audience! The flag off is currently scheduled from Mumbai at 1000 hours on 24 March 2017, when we embark on this journey, hopefully able to create an extra-ordinary story and memory! You are most welcome to come and join the celebration and wish me luck!!

 

Badri Baldawa

Cell: +91 987 000 1177

Email: badribaldawa@gmail.com

Road to London #1 – Another World Record For Me?

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I am excited!

I am privileged to have a life partner who has always been with me – from social responsibilities to simple dinners out to super adventures like a trek around Mt. Kailash, a cruise to South Pole, a driving trip through Iceland and lots more.  Together we established the record of being the first Indians to land at North Pole (i.e. 90° North) in 2009.

Of late, Pushpa’s knees have not been able to cope with the strain that trekking brings.  But painful knees cannot keep thrill and excitement at bay.  So I thought, till such time she is able to convince her knees to support her for treks, let us go for driving trips.

It is not unusual for me to take driving trips within the country, like the one I am about to set off for next week – 2,500 kms into South India and back. This is an endurance test drive for something coming up soon!

Our next adventure is a 60-day driving trip from Mumbai to London – 14 countries, 18,000 kms and 9 months of preparation.

It is a route that takes you to West by first going East. We will start with cutting across the Indian states of MP, UP, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.  This will lead us to Myanmar.  We would then drive through China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia (right up to Moscow), Belarus, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and finally the UK.

As you can imagine, the journey will be through off-beat tracks, rugged mountains, deserts and sand dunes, dense forests and snow passes, high altitudes and heritage sites, and of course some highways and city drives.  We will cross iron bridges in Myanmar as well as pass through the silk route in Central Asia. Believe it or not, we are looking forward to the various challenges we will face driving through such varied landscape.

This might just be a World Record – the senior most person (72 years) to make this journey (Waiting for confirmation from Limca Records®).

Just wanted to share my excitement with you!

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

Drive Through Iceland 11: Natural Spas and Lagoons

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In continuation of earlier blog DTI 10: Snow Mobile, James Bond Style

There were various beautiful lava rock formations. These rock formations also formed large caves, as large as an acre each.  Asphalt pillars were also seen here.  They were the by-product of lava flow during eruptions.  Though they were natural, it looked as if they were carved out of a large rocks.

It was then time for us to visit the Skogar waterfall.  It is known for the enormous force of the water. We climbed about half a kilometer on a steep mountain adjacent to the waterfall, to watch the source of waterfall.  It was cold and raining, but it did not stop us from trekking.

We stayed over night in a guest house owned by Mr. Uxi who was a very popular chef in one of the five star hotels in the Capital.  We enjoyed our stay there and so also the vegetarian breakfast he cooked specially for us.

Hberagardi Hot Springs 2015-08-13B

Hberagardi Natural Hot Springs

More natural wonders were to follow.  There is a specific hot spring belt running from Keflavik airport and it cuts across the country.  Geysers and spots where boiling water bubbles out, is common on this belt. On the penultimate day, it was time for us to visit a small town Hveragerdi, a town with countless natural hot water springs.    We could see smoke coming out of the hot springs all over the hill town.  They were just a few yards away from each other.  I guess some of the private houses had natural hot springs in their own backyard.

We climbed half the mountain to see the various hot springs.  At the top of the mountain there was a natural hot spring lagoon.  However the weather turned adverse with sub-zero temperatures, wind and rain, we did not go up to the lagoon.

We were in the coastal area which was created by lava flows.The lava had even extended to the coastal area of the country by 5 kilometers.  We drove through volcano eruptions through the trip.  While we were passing through the lava land, there were heavy dusty storms.  The wind was so strong that I found it difficult to control the steering wheel.  I guess the lighter vehicles would not have stood to that storm and would have flown away.

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Lava fields, Iceland

Lava sand, lava eruptions and lava mountains – it is not an exaggeration to say that this is what makes Iceland.

These were completely isolated kachhaa roads.  There were occasions when we felt we have lost the way.  I started suspecting the accuracy of the GPS as we were left at a location surrounded by lava mountains and dusty winds with no one in sight. It was a great relief when we finally reached the main road leading us to Blue Lagoon, the last of our stops.

Blue Lagoon is the master of luxurious spas.  It is a lagoon, a large, open water body flowing from natural hot springs.  The pool water was a lovely, uniform marine blue.  The water was warm and at some places, even warmer.  We reserved this site as the last point of our tour.  After a hectic week around Iceland, these were well-deserved relaxing few hours.

Blue Lagoon 3B

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Nishi, our 8-year old granddaughter was an entertainer and inspiration in all the activities, whether it was trekking on rough terrains, climbing the mountains, entering hot water springs in freezing temperature, glacier walking or snow mobiling.  It was good we had a child like her with us, to keep the child in us alive.

In earlier years, when I imagined about Iceland, I expected to see ice and snow all around; it was Iceland after all!  However, that’s not the case. I wonder whether a few more eruptions would make ‘Iceland’ into ‘Lavaland’.

Our wonderful trip had come to a close. A rich, fulfilling week later, we returned the vehicle and were at the airport to catch our flight back.

Experienced and Written By: Badri Baldawa

Edited By : Meeta Kabra

Drive Through Iceland 10: Snow Mobile, James Bond Style

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                                        In continuation of earlier blog DTI 9: Icebergs and Glacier Walk

While planning my Iceland itinerary, I surely wanted to visit Katla volcano glacier as well as experience the snow mobile thrill.  the earlier night’s 125 kilometer drive Westward, day 6 was the most exciting day of the trip for me.

Snow Mobiling is not commonly available in the world.   Out of the available ones, Iceland is supposed to be the best of all.  This is where many famous films like  the Bond film and others were shot.

Various sources had mentioned that advance booking is a must for snow mobiling. We booked ourselves for snow-mobiling, the earlier day and the earliest slot available was at 12.30 PM.

When we reached the booking office, I learnt that, for snow mobiling,  we would be taken to a glacier top.   I expected that.  But what I did not expect was that the concerned glacier in this case would be the one formed on the top of Katla Volcano. This is one of most scenic and romantic glaciers in the world.  That was where I wanted it to be.  Some times lady luck works in your favor too! Two of my ambitions were to come true in one stroke!

Snow Mobiling on Katla

Snow Mobiling on Katla Glacier

Snow Mobiling

Snow Mobiling

We had a special one-piece-gear covering us from top to bottom, heavy gloves, boots and helmet.  It felt like we were astronauts in space suits.

A special mountain vehicle took us to the top of Katla glacier and we were soon seated in snowmobiles!

Snowmobiles are two-seater bikes. They don’t have enclosures on the sides or the top.  It has two skis in the front and two wheels at rear.   For most of the fun time, Pushpa and I drover together with her sitting behind.  Nishi shared another with the instructor.

We drove like James Bond for 2 hours and 20 kilometers on Katla Glacier! Ascending and descending, driving on a uneven snow surface, curving right and left, set the heartbeats ablaze!

It was difficult to accept that we were on the top of Katla glacier, formed by 2010-11 volcano eruption.   We were not just standing, we were snow mobiling like in action movies.  Surely a first for me. For a pause, when we were standing in the center of the glacier, it gave a different sort of fear when the instructor told us that as per the seismographic studies, the land and ice below us was expected to explode again any day now!

After snow mobiling, we had enough time to visit Dyrholaey. Puffins, the beautiful birds are found at Dyrholaey coastal area in South Iceland. Puffins, the lovely seabirds are synonymous with Iceland. They are normally seen for 3 months till mid-July. Though it was off season, there were thousands of them flying across.  They were either enjoying floating in the cold seawater or gossiping on a pinnacle like stone formation.

Puffin

Puffin – Pic from Google

Nishi was quite excited about the puffins.  She wanted a closer look.    But I still wanted to try if we could find anything closer than we had at Dyrholaey. The next day we went to two other places where Puffins were known to be sighted.  At the sea coast of Vik, we found Puffins flying around the mountain. Some of them flew together  in hundreds, as if to show their camaraderie.  Some were in a bow and arrow formation!

Black Sand Beaches, Vik, Iceland

Black Sand Beaches, Vik

Our hunt, to see the puffins from a closer angle, continued.  15 kilometers further down we visited another place where the birds were known to be closer.  They were resting in groups on the mountain reefs.

Then we understood that the puffins can be sighted only from a small distance and  cannot be watched from as close a distance as the penguins we saw in Antarctica, South Pole.

Vik coastal area is also famous for its black sand beaches, again an outcome of volcanic eruptions.

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To be contd……………

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra