Travel Aches

One holiday company screamed out a banner that laid down 14 instances during the year 2015 , where you could use the holidays with weekends to get away and wanted you to plan in advance . Very impressive – What more can you want – You do not need to take vacations but can still do your holidays. But beware – Looking at my recent experience over the long weekends , I would not plan any holidays during the long week end opportunities. Instead , would take a holiday and go for vacations.

 Here are my reasons  :

Having done four  around trips using NH 45 and NH 205 during the last six weeks’ time frame , I can tell that I no longer enjoy the drive – Just one reason – traffic --  nearly bumper to bumper  and the traffic eases off only past Tindivanam or Vellore ( that is like 100 Kms away from Chennai ) – In the past these drives  were nice-- I just loved driving on the NH 45—with road getting laid till Dindigul , it was a pleasure to ride these roads. 

Clogs at the Toll booths—Waiting time at the toll booths was anywhere between 15- 25 minutes and if there is a line , there are people who have to break it to create commotion and have fun at others ire. Tool booths were simply out of breath in handling the number of vehicles that passed them through the week end

Many eateries have sprung up on the highway. But can they handle the extra crowds on these week end days ? No is the answer. Quality of service goes down , seats are not available , waiting time to have that quick bite extends and non-availability of food is something to worry about. The other day close to Chengalpattu , one of the well-known motels gave a 45 minute waiting time and they also let know that they may run of eatables by that time !

Most of the places you want to visit is crowded – And on these routes., where the roads are smaller , there are enough traffic snarls. The other day at Munnar , we spent crawling 1.5 Kms over a three hour period.  You probably end up skipping places that you want to see. Places of worship are even tough. Long lines await you and time for a quick glimpse of the Lord may take you several hours.

So , the Holiday Company was right . Several opportunities to do short getaways. But looks like everyone is planning on the same lines.

So , best bet is to plan on weekends that are not  combined with any festival or government holiday or better still take you vacation and go on holiday.

To me , that looks the best bet if you want to drive , eat and do what you want without standing behind  vehicles or humans !