BENGALURU - HUBLI HIGHWAY DRIVE

BENGALURU - HUBLI HIGHWAY

We travel from Bangalore to Hubli and vice-versa atleast three to four times a month. The Bangalore - Hubli highway runs through Neelamangala-Tumkur-Chitradurg-Davangere-Haveri-Hubli. It's approximately 420 kms (plus or minus a few kms depending on which part of Bangalore you start from. There are multiple toll gates along the way. So ensure that you have sufficient change inorder to make a quick move at the toll booth. The highway is super smooth for most part of the journey. However, there is portion of the highway where six lane is underway and the traffic is streamlined to the corners of the road. This portion is not discomforting for the drive though, because most the road is pretty much free of potholes. But this will cut down on the usual highway speed.

About a 100 kms off of Bangalore, there is a Cafe Coffee Day. We stop for a cup of coffee to keep us going for the next 5 hours, get a few snacks for the road and empty bladders if need be :). Most part of the highway is agricultural land. When I traveled this road for the first time in April, the endless stretches of land was dark brown and barren. I hadn't imagined that the earth would transform itself in the days to come. As months passed, we could see farmers sowing on these lands, tractors and bullock carts on the sides. And as the south-west monsoons made it's grand arrival, around June, the endless stretches of land turned lush green. All sorts of farms from Paddy, Jowar, Bajra, Chillies, Tomatoes, Onions, Peanuts, Corn and many others were being grown.

THE FLAMING ORANGE BED:

One day, along the way, between the multiple shades of green paddy fields stretched over hundreds of acres until the eyes met the horizon, there was a sudden burst of orange – flaming orange. It instantly caught our attention and we stopped to figure what it was. It looked like a flower bed but was atleast about 3 kms away. So we couldn't pinpoint on what it was. We decided to take a detour and drove in towards the orange bed. As we got closer, we couldn't believe our eyes. It was a Dahlia farm with hundreds and hundreds of Dahlias. Bright orange blaze of glory for a city dweller's eyes. As we drove further, there were many other farms of Dahlia. It was delightful to see the number of shades of just one kind of flower. There were lighter shades of orange, some bright orange and some were dark orange color, rather closer to red. As Ganesh Puja came around, the flowers were plucked and packed off in truckloads to the adjoining city markets.

BLACKBUCKS:

Somewhere between Davengere and Haveri is a place called Rannebennur. This little town has a Blackbuck Deer Sanctuary. Though we have never been to the sanctuary, one of the times that we were passing by Rannebennur, we pulled over to take a break. In a faraway farm it felt like something moved near a tree. I thought it was a goat since it was too faraway. I immediately took out the camera so I could zoom in and see what it was. To my surprise it was a herd of spotted deers and blackbucks grazing in the field. It is unusual to see deers so close to the highway unless you were driving through hills. It was a spectuacular site.

WINDMILLS OF CHITRADURG:

Chitradurg is precisely half way between Bangalore and Hubli. It's called the “City of Forts”. As you approach Chitradurg you will see hills that are widespread and atop of these hills are a line of windmills, strangely synchronous, yet not. Not just one or two, but hundereds of them. It's a serene sight during the day and starry eyed during the night. The skies are studded with blinking lights almost like stars. As you get closer, you'll notice these are the center lights of the windmills running across the hills. And these blink as the fan blades of the windmills circle. It's a pretty sight. Also, running along one of the hills is a huge fort wall. Almost looks like the Great Wall of China from a distance.  Yes I've been to China!! :D

POCKET FUL OF RAINBOWS:

Between June and September, the southwest moonsoons arrive. During this period, it rains abundantly and so the fields and farms are full, healthy, luscious green and is a nature lover's paradise. And catching a rainbow is almost predictable. It rains when the sun is shining – well this is anybody's guess. Breathtaking, is when on one of our drives, we caught a rainbow arching beautifully across with the highway right at the center. The second time we saw a rainbow from the balcony of our house and the third time was the best when saw a double rainbow. One full rainbow and a half rainbow. Never heard of that? Well, there is nothing like being caught unaware - colourfully.