Footsteps: Midnight bus to Dindigul Day 1

To 👉Dindigul, just like that.

Sudden schedules can give you excitement, anxiety, headache, thrill, experience, tiredness all at the same time. So, that happened once back in 2018 for a work that I got dragged into all of a sudden with a days notice. 

I was staying in Mangalore for office works back then. It was after all the Pooja vacations around mid November. I was busy with my works and schedules. Suddenly one fine morning I got a call from Delhi office. I had to reach a place called Dindigul in the middle of Tamil Nadu by tomorrow night. We had a big event happening there in 3 days. Now to give an idea Mangalore is in south western cost of India just above Kerala and Dindigul is in middle of Tamil Nadu. Because of the Western ghats in the middle there was no direct connection from Manglore to Dindigul. So I had to book a train to Coimbatore first then a night bus to Dindigul that reaches Dindigul at 2 am. All the other options were too late for me. It takes around 8 to 9 ours from Mangalore to reach Coimbatore by train and around 4 hours from Coimbatore to reach Dindigul. So, I booked a train for the next day afternoon to Coimbatore. 

Next day I was at the station at around 11am. The train was at 11:45 am. I bought some food for the journey and hopped on to my sit. 

Anybody who had travelled down Kerala by train knows how beautiful that route is. The Railway track goes along the Arabian Sea. Every now and then you can see the ocean and palm trees along the coastline. After leaving Mangalore within half an hour we cross the border and reach Kerala. The moment you enter Kerala very soon you start to see the ocean on your right. The train goes through Kasargod then Kannur then Calicut or Kozhikode. This is one of the most scenic railway journeys in India. Entire route is full of breath taking greenery and views of the sea every once in a while. I have very fond memories of Kannur and Payyanur in Kerala. I will tell about them some other time.

Train journeys like these make me forget all the worries that I had. I was quite pissed before starting the trip. I had to run around and arrange everything so quickly. But when the train started crossing the beautiful landscapes through the heart of northern Kerala I forgot everything and started enjoying the journey. As this was going to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu so after crossing Kozhikode it turned left towards Palakkad. We left the track by the sea and went inward. Coimbatore is at the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. I reached Coimbatore around 7 pm. and my bus was around 11 pm.

So, I had some time in hand. I called up one of my friend who was from Coimbatore. We stayed together in Delhi for a long time. We had some fun time together and he dropped me at bus stop. I bid him good bye and left for Dindigul. 

The bus was bound for Rameshwaram. A total of 8 hours journey from Dindigul to rameshwaram. But I was stuck in the middle. My stoppage at Dindigul was around 2 am in the morning and the bus would drop me on the highway. So great news. Bus was ac semi sleeper with both sitting and sleeping seats. But what sleep was I supposed to get. Anyway bus started on time and time went by quite quickly as it was going through the highway. 

At around 2 am I got down from the bus. The conductor told me autos wait here at this time also as highway buses brings passengers. So, that was a little relief. Google maps was like blessings from God for me back in those days. I could always figure out where I was, how far I need to go. As I was looking for a ride, I took out my Google maps checked where I was and figured out where I had to go. After looking here and there I saw one old man was waving at me from his autorickshaw. He was under a bridge hidden in the shadows so I didn't see him at first. He didn't know Hindi, English or Bengali and I didn't know Tamil. So at the beginning it was quite interesting talking to him but finally he figured out where I had to reach.

Then a bargain for price at the dead of the night for a journey of 4 kms. We finally settled at 200. 

All good and very soon we reached the destination through the empty streets of Dindigul. When I reached the hotel where our office team had come, another surprise. They didn't book any room for me. Great. None of the guys knew as they didn't really book themselves either. So, after a lot of weird ideas from everyone and waking up the whole hotel I finally booked a room for myself and at 3 am in the morning we all went to sleep. Next day was preparation. That's for another day. 

Please share your thoughts and comments and I will come back with the next part of the journey .

Thanks.