I always thought that adventures were meant for the young and gutsy. But my Phupu’s (father’s sister) recent trip to India has changed my view.

My Phupu and her friends — all in their 60’s — made a religious tour to India that too all on their own. They covered over a dozen religious sites spanning across five Indian states. The interesting thing is that they are not frequent travellers.

The six spirited ladies decided to take a break and visit some noted religious sites in India. They hired a vehicle at Gorakhpur and the first destination of their two-week journey was Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram.

My Phupu took charge of the group as the navigator. A map of the national highways, regional highways and link roads, and an equally friendly young driver made most of the trip pleasant. They visited the Jagadishnath temple of Puskar, the Pink City of Jaipur, and Mt Abu. They also had time to visit Man Singh Fort and Krishna Temple at Dwarka, and then Somnath, Nasik and Ujjain. Their next stop was Varanasi, which they reached via Bhopal.

From Bhopal they decided to take a short-cut to Varanasi, leaving the national highway and passing right through rural Madhya Pradesh. Up till that point of the journey, the roads had been excellent. The ladies were impressed with the bouganvillae-lined highways and the endless potato fields in UP, freshly extracted marbles of different hues and shades in Rajasthan.

But the short-cut they took to save time was full of potholes. As there were no human settlement as far as the eye could see, stories of highway robbers automatically plagued their minds. And worst, they had to cross the desolate rural area at night. The jubilant and chatty ladies became unusually quiet.

At around midnight, they decided to stop, and just as the tired travellers were about to spend the night in the midst of nowhere, the driver suggested driving along. They reached a small town, where they were directed toward a ‘new’ guest-house. It turned out to be a big room with mattresses. These couldn’t have looked more welcoming. They soon fell asleep.

They left the town at the break of dawn. As they could not find any restaurants on the way, they had to eat guavas with tea for breakfast!

They finally made it to Varanasi, passing through small towns like Sagar, Rewa.

The spirited ladies toured the major religious sites in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, covering around 5,000 km.

My Phupu looked tanned and a little thinner when she reached Kathmandu, but she was in high spirits. They are already looking forward to next year’s trip down South.