Thursday, May 3, 2007

Dec 21, 2006, Ignition time 6:00 AM

First Leg: Towards the Wonder Town Agra. Distance 215 Kms.

Simple directions really. Get out of the DLF phases head towards Faridabad, cut right and then a few turns ahead hit NH 2 straight towards Agra. Taj here we come…


But then, at 6:30 AM on the highway, we were confronted with a 3 metre view of the road. Dense fog all along. This was only the second time in this life that I had encountered this dense a fog on the highway. The first had been a few years back in Bhutan!



Slow traffic and quiet cabin inside car brought out the brat in wifey. She insisted for a break of tea and that too just an hour after start.

Tea in the Mist

Driving through the mist is an experience by itself, especially if you know you have a long way to go but don’t know where this is going to clear. Something like life’s best kept secrets. You know it will and must pass for a clearer view around, but then, the passage is not in your control. And you have all the options available, to stop and wait, to take a risk and drive on at a canter, to follow other vehicles at a distance, to tail gate trucks as the masses claim they are the expert drivers…

I chose to take the plunge by myself, figure out my pace, and kept on to it. When I looked at my speedo, found that I was clocking 60 kms/hr… and also a look at the rear view revealed following cars… so that’s all it takes to gather some reverence!

Break at Mathura. Breakfast the Yankee way. Burgers in the park at Big Macs. Went on to become an uneventful ride into Agra Town. Reach there at 10:30 AM.

Before I forget, we (me and wifey) had this wonderful discussion in the car after seeing a few roadsigns which pointed towards Kolkata. 1,425 Kms… to change the plan and go Kolkata wards or stick to plan! We almost came to a unanimous thought that it might be better to go Kolkata. The thought of MP and bad roads and UP and rowdies changed the route back on course…

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