Platform7

This was a ticket booked at a very short notice - my favorite options from Karnataka SRTC was already sold out, and the special buses operated by them were being sold at astronomical rates (rate compared to the distance). I found some seats in buses operated by Kerala RTC, and decided to pick one in the Ernakulam-Bengaluru service (My favorite among the buses operated by Kerala RTC). I managed to get a window seat in the 'last-but-one' row.

September 29, 2019:
It was really difficult to leave my little one behind - I hadn't had enough of holding my little princess and it was already time to return to Bengaluru. A driver was arranged to drop me at the bus station, instead of my usual habit of taking the bus to Palakkad. I started from home a little past 2115hrs - although the bus is scheduled to depart from Palakkad at 2200hrs, it usually reaches there only past 2230hrs. The driver took it slow, and we slowly progressed towards Palakkad. We got stuck at a railway crossing n…

This was the reason for confusion - I had to be in Palakkad on Sunday (September 29, 2019) to attend a certification examination, which was really important in my career. But then, my leave was ending on Friday, and I had to return to Bengaluru - only to travel back the same evening. My stay in Palakkad on Sunday would be really short again, as I would return the same night!
While hunting for options to travel from Bangalore to Coimbatore (the options for Palakkad were quite expensive), I stumbled upon this operator, called Kavi Logistics. They are a reputed brand when it comes to non-ac sleeper service, and they had started this AC sleeper service just a week or so prior to my journey. Without a doubt, I decided to try this new operator - although the operator had a site of their own, bookings were possible only through redbus. I managed to pocket some discounts, including some for using a particular payment gateway. 
September 28, 2019: I was really tired and sleepy through the day …

I was completely undecided about my return journey. I had leave only until Friday - I was confused if I should take a leave for another day and stay back until Sunday. There were some technical issues about staying back on Saturday - and I had to return to work. I finally decide to bite the bullet, and decide to travel back to Bangalore on Friday evening.

September 27, 2019:
My brother-in-law and his family were also returning to Bengaluru that morning. I decided to join them and booked on the same bus as theirs - the 1345 Trivandrum - Bengaluru Garuda Maharaja Scania service. This service showed a 2115hrs departure from Palakkad - the timing seemed impossible, since the bus needs to travel all the way from Trivandrum to Palakkad, through the ever busy MC Road in 7h30m to do that feat - which is almost impossible.

I received a message with the bus and crew details a little post 1300hrs. I called up the crew a little past 1900hrs to find their whereabouts in order to confirm our drop t…

Although this trip was decided about a week in advance, I hadn't booked any tickets until about 2 days before the trip. I was initially planning to take a post noon bus -  I wanted to be at TW's place early in the morning. I was confused about what bus to take, and kept procrastinating my booking. I decided to look at trains for some reason - and I was quite excited to see a train (16315 SBC Kochuveli Express) with tickets at waitlist #12. I procrastinated further - I finally booked a ticket through the IRCTC website later in the evening, two days before the journey. My ticket was at waiting list #10 now! I briefly considered booking a tatkal ticket - it was available even until late evening on the day before my journey. I decided to take the risk and wait to see if my ticket confirms!

September 21, 2019:
I had left home with a huge backpack - my plan was to head to the station in the evening after office; provided the ticket confirms, that is! I received a message from IRCTC …