Friends, Bikes , Open Road and Memories……..

On a pleasant Sunday morning, me and my friends decided to go on a road trip. This trip was planned just 2 days in advance. It was decided to go on bikes as the distance was not very far, and since it would be a Sunday, the roads would be clear of traffic. Since we had planned to leave at the crack of dawn to reach the place early, I decided to stay the night over at my friend’s place. It was very difficult to get up at the crack of dawn (believe me not just for me but also for my other friends..)

Close to 9 am the guys came with their respective bikes, so by the time we could leave the house it was past 9 am. There were eight of us on four bikes. ( out of which we were three girls ) . While crossing the city limits to reach the highway we did come across some traffic, but it was not like we could not cross it. Finally, we left behind the traffic, and got on to the highway. The drive on the highway was really nice. While we were on the bikes, we came across such eye soothing sights, like a lake, farms, and tiny villages. We decided to stop at small eatery for breakfast. We had excellent mouth watering breakfast of Idily, vada and shambhar, and a hot cup of filter served in those small glasses. Since two of my friends had cameras in their mobile phones, we couldn’t resist clicking a few photos. ;)

We started again on the highway, with all of trying to race each other. We stopped again at CCD (Café Coffee Day), since we had to stop, for a..ahem….nature’s call. There one my friend ordered for just one slice of the yummy, mouth watering CCD famous chocolate fantasy cake topped with hot chocolate sauce. Yummy, This one piece was shared amongst the eight of us. The café was set up in a scenic view with rocks behind the café. Again we couldn’t resist clicking a few more photos. :p

We started the drive back on the highway and this time we finally our destination “ANTARAGANGA”. It was another adventure form here. After parking the bikes, we began to climb the steps that led to a temple at the end, though we didn’t go inside the temple. We asked around what else is there to see, when we were told that if we continue the climb on the rocks, we would get to see a view.

Thus we began another climb on the rocky path that led to the top. There was no proper steps, since it was all rocks, and they was no proper path. It was a Herculean climb for those who are not used to trekking and hiking, including myself. While climbing, again we were clicking photos like crazy. J Each and every one giving a pose. We reached halfway on the hill, where we were just sitting for some time. We just sat down, and there was a cool pleasant breeze. We continued with the climb, but by the time we reached with less than a few more meters, I couldn’t continue. Along with me another friend of mine also couldn’t go. The three of us stayed back.

We started are decent from the hill, and boy coming down was more scary than climbing. While climbing up, my heart was beating really fast, but it was beating much faster while coming down. It was not just the scary rocky steps; it was also the view at the bottom that scared me. I even almost slipped halfway coming down. But I took my own time and came down slowly, with my legs wobbling. By the time I finished the decent I was out of breath…whew… but this was just one hurdle that we finished. We still had to climb the very same steps that led us to the rocky hill. While coming down the stairs, I felt that I was going to collapse any moment. We finally managed to reach the parking area. It was already noon and were tired and famished. We started out for the highway in search for a good place to eat. We had our lunch and were on our way back to the city. When we finally reached home, we all wanted to collapse on the sofa.

But the best part of the trip was that we were on bikes. It was a great, when we felt the wind, and also racing with each other. Of course we also got sun tanned, but we don’t mind it. Very rarely do we have such trips with close friends.

This trip is one of those memories that I will always remember for life. I am fortunate to have friends, who have been by my side, in good times as well as not so good times. Thanks to them, whenever I will look back at these memories, I will always have a smile on my face….