Platform7

I had to make sure I wouldn't mess up my return journey after a big day. For some reason, I did not look at flights, but decided booked by a bus. Kerala RTC was chosen over other operators for the convenience factor - drop at Peenya! I picked my favorite service among them - Ernakulam-Bangalore Garuda King Class.

March 25, 2018:
The heat was taking a toll on me - I was exhausted by evening. After hurrying though routine pre-departure formalties, I rushed out of home to the nearest bus stop. The time was a little past 1915hrs - my bus from Thrissur was scheduled at 2045hs - leaving me with exactly 90 minutes to get there. I got to the bus stop by 1925hrs - missed a bus just before getting there. The wait for the next bus got a little longer - I was getting tensed as the time went by. I finally got into a bus by around 1945hrs - unusually, the driver decided to drive slowly. The heat got worse as I neared Thrissur - I got off near KSRTC bus station by around 2050hrs - five minutes p…

A big day! Big Reason to travel! I was undecided!

I had originally booked on Go Air for a Friday evening - I booked this ticket over two months in advance. Go Air decided to cancel this flight - and, fortunately, they did call me about a week in advance and intimated about the cancellation. The neo troubles were affecting both IndiGo and Go badly. I had planned to rebook on a different airline initially - but some other reasons forced me to hold on for a while. I looked at all the options I had - including the railways! After a lot of procrastination, I decided to bite the bullet, and picked Kerala RTC again - I booked my ticket on the day of my journey. The bus had a little over 50% occupancy at the time - I picked a window seat towards the rear end of the bus, on the left side.

March 22, 2018:
It was arts time at office, and I could reach home quite early. After a late lunch, and early evening tea, I set out from home in a fairly tired Ola Prime cab towards Basaveshwara Bus Station …

I was browsing a famous ticket booking website for options for my return journey from Nellore to Bengaluru. SRS Travels caught my attention - since the vehicle type was listed as "Mercedes Benz Multi-Axle". I checked on the SRS website and confirmed this information. I further checked on facebook and ensured that the service was actually operated by a Mercedes Benz multi-axle coach. I booked my ticket through the SRS website, which guaranteed a discount on the ticket fare. The final cost of the ticket was close to Rs. 400 less than what I paid for the outbound!

March 09, 2018:
I checked out of the hotel at Ayyappagudi, by around 2030hrs - my bus was scheduled to depart at 2200hrs from Madras Bus Stand. I had called up SRS Travels earlier in the evening to confirm the location of the pick-up point, and had confirmed the departure time as well. I waited for a while to see if I could get a bus, but finally settled for a share autorickshaw, who dropped me near the bus station by…

One hot day in Kerala, sometime past noon - I receive a call from an unknown number - the caller identifies himself as a faculty member at a Pharmacy college in the coastal Andhra Pradesh town of Nellore. The call was to invite me as a resource person at a national conference organised by the college. After due clarifications, I accept the offer. A few days pass without much movement - and about a week later, the official invitation arrives in my mail box. I did not book tickets until a few days before the event - the host at the institution in Nellore followed up duly to ensure I booked my tickets, and he confirmed my arrival time at Nellore. I badly wanted to try APSRTC - their fares were the highest on the route - almost twice the fares charged by private operators. After dilly-dallying for a few days further, I finally book my ticket on the APSRTC Amaravati departing Bengaluru at night.

March 08, 2018:
I was laid back - the bus leaves only at 2300hrs. I had a very relaxed dinner f…

I wasn't supposed to fly this day - certain life events made me a little cautious about the number of leaves I took during the year, and this made me rethink about the travel plan that I had for end of February. I had originally planned to take three days off and return over the weekend with family - with my new found caution for leaves, I decided to fly back on Friday after attending a family function late on Thursday night. My outbound was already booked on go Air (Read here). I looked at various OTAs for flight tickets, and found a deal on SpiceJet. I hadn't flown SpiceJet for a long time, and I booked a ticket without a second thought, along with a Seat+Meal Combo as well, since I would be flying around lunch time.

February 23, 2018:
I hadn't slept well that night, and I was feverish as I woke up around 0900hrs. I had to leave home by 1000hrs to make it to the airport on time for a 1310hrs departure. Noon is a peak hour for Kochi airport, and I had to account for the l…