mumbai to bangalore travel in a volvo.

I cant believe its more than 6 months that i updated my blog. Billionth voice that is. Lots of things have happened in the sabbatical. Not all great or worth mentioning.

So where was i during the year end?
Well i was back in aachi mumbai enjoying with namma parents. Its always a special feeling to be somewhere you feel like you are the king.
It was the first time i was traveling from bangalore to mumbai in a volvo. No more sponsored flights for me. (All good things come to an end. so they say.)
I had booked VRL volvo around 8pm. I tried to book a thursday evening bus but there was no availability. Finally i got a vrl booking for friday evening. I reached kalasipalya after a taking a bus from tippasandra to corporation and from thereon by an auto.

The autowalla was at his arrogant best. He didnt start the meter when i got in and when i insisted he asked for 10 rs more. I immediately asked him to stop and got out of the auto. Then i had to listen to a flurry of excuses on how its very reasonable. When i had nothing of it and started to leave he held my hand and told me to get back in the auto agreeing to go by the meter.
I got back since i didnt know the way and could have needed directions from him later. As it turned out i later paid him 10 extra as i again was too lazy to haggle and more anxious to reach on time.

I reached the VRL office on time. The bus came almost on time too. (Till now i have travelled by VRL,sharma,KSRTC and found that VRL,KSRTC are on par and quite decent.)
The bus started and in no time we were stuck in the famous bengaluru traffic.
It took 10:30pm to really get a move on. Akshay's "singh is king" was blaring away on the tv which i tried to avoid.

It felt great watching the lights zoom by sitting by the window seat on the last seat. Last row is never a nice place to sit especially on a long journey, but it didnt bother me much as i was going to mumbai. I was already thinking abt when i would reach and what i would be doing. the comfort of traveling in a volvo is unparalleled on road. Not only it glides on the road, you dont feel the travel fatigue like in the other modes of transport.

One thing i noticed was the roads in karnataka were pretty much under construction. many times the bus had to use a diversion which caused a lot of time wastage especially because the volvo normally travels at around 120 kmph on the highways. So we reached the border at around 6 am and then it was a smooth sailing through maharashtra. the roads looked impeccably maintained. the administration or msrdc deserves a mention in this regard.

Then it was kolhapur, karad, satara behind us in no time and pune was beaconing with time to go for 10 am. Pune was kind of a maze since the bus kept going round and round and we became more anxious as to when we were finally going to hit the well known Mumbai-Pune expressway. At long last we saw the last of Pune and the express way greeted us with the multilane roads and zooming cars.

One thing i have to agree that the expressway has made travel a lot more safer. I still remember as a kid how terrified i was to see the depths of the khandala, lonavala ghats. I used to hope i can get to the other side. But what it also has done is that you miss the scenery you get to see otherwise, going thru the dense forest of lonavala. Pleasant, serene sights beacon you onwards along the treacherous and twisting roads. A solitary drivers moment of serenity i should say. Especially in the monsoon, its a total joy traveling by the old road. you can see people who have stopped by the wayside to enjoy the bountiful nature sipping away at a super hot cup of tea while its raining like it can only in the western ghats.

the bus sped on the express way like in a race, easily overtaking other vehicles. felt kinda nice. In no time were we on the outskirts of a well populated suburb of Navi Mumbai known as panvel. the density of population was just a reminder that i was entering a city. Even here the highrises easily outnumbered the apartments i see in bangalore.

It was around 1 pm and the bus entered the main town of vashi and it was supposed to be my alighting point. I managed to get down from the bus, still trying to come to terms with the sudden loss of momentum while in the bus.
I trudged along the dusty main road and reached till the imposing structure that the Vashi station was. It also happens to be the bus stand for traveling to the yonder suburbs of navi mumbai. I reached home by 2:30 where mom had expected me to arrive by plane the same morning! (I attributed my travel in a bus to recession :P)

Though i have traveled by plane almost 15-16 times, the novelty factor remains. Not to mention the time saved is truly invaluable. add to that the comfortable journey.
Still volvo experience comes close to it if not same. If only volvos could fly! :)