Setting off from Mumbai in the summer heat, we were headed towards Uttaranchal, 2000 kms away, without maps, plans or a schedule. At 7 a.m. we were on the Eastern Express, our only instruction, "keep driving till you turn left to Indore, 600 kms away." That was literally what we did. We stopped for breakfast and lunch, hardly aware of what we ate, desperate to get back to the comfort of the a/c car, and run from the scorching sun and the heat wave that had temperatures soaring 6 degrees above normal.

Reaching Indore at 7 pm, we stayed at the first half decent hotel, Silver Oaks: recently opened, excellent service, hot spicy food, our only agenda, an air-conditioned room. As it happened, the a/c conked off at 1 a.m., and we tossed and turned pretending that the a/c was working, till the phone rang at 2.30 am. Someone at the reception was asking if we wanted our car washed. Yes, was the reply, while peering at the watch. Good god, this is worse than a hospital, I thought, where they invariably wake you at 4 am, with a macabre cheerfulness, saying 'sponging time', just at the very moment you finally groan off to a dazed sleep. The amazing thing was that at 7 am while we groggily loaded the car, the culprit who woke us arrived to finally wash the car. So it was not even enthusiasm and diligence that was the cause of the call. Guess travel is all about new experiences.

I thought, where they invariably wake you at 4 am, with a macabre cheerfulness, saying 'sponging time', just at the very moment you finally groan off to a dazed sleep. The amazing thing was that at 7 am while we groggily loaded the car, the culprit who woke us arrived to finally wash the car. So it was not even enthusiasm and diligence that was the cause of the call. Guess travel is all about new experiences.

At 10.30 am we stopped for brunch at an MP Tourism outfit at Beoria, sure that we wouldn't feel like stepping out of the car when it got much hotter. Chatting with the receptionist, I tried to figure if there were any places worth visiting in the vicinity. He handed me pamphlets of Kanha and Khajuraho, which I knew were miles off. Seeing a large map behind him, I thought I'd figure out what was within reasonable distance and on the way to Delhi. We hadn't been by this route before, our earlier drive from Mumbai to Himachal Pradesh, having been through Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Jaipur and Delhi. This time, keen to take another route and wanting to avoid the carnage in Gujarat, we had opted for NH3. I asked the receptionist where we were on the map and he pointed vaguely to the white spaces of neighbouring Gujarat, just outside the confines of what the map was depicting. I sighed, not much help there.

I thought, where they invariably wake you at 4 am, with a macabre cheerfulness, saying 'sponging time', just at the very moment you finally groan off to a dazed sleep. The amazing thing was that at 7 am while we groggily loaded the car, the culprit who woke us arrived to finally wash the car. So it was not even enthusiasm and diligence that was the cause of the call. Guess travel is all about new experiences.