Starting off à new thread.
The guys have left from their place.
The last grp took roughly 24 hours driving time to get to Trivandrum.
So expecting that, plus 5-6 buffer for lunch etc. https://twitter.com/thebokettogirl/status/1259906617753194504

Couple of things. Basic stuff actually.
1. Dress comfortably. Wear comfortable footwear.
2. There's no such thing as too much water or food. Carry snacks and water as u feel like.

We started at 5.30ish.
The rental car refuses to go beyond 80, so it's taking more time than expected.
There was intermittent police checks at many points but many waved us across when v showed the pass and mentioned destination.

Couple of tolls in between. Keep change for that.

p.s. Doubly check before leaving...
... I forgot the food I packed for the trip. Left it in the fridge. Thankfully the guys had picked up plenty of food too.

We stopped at a check point before Kolhapur. Map says Kanegao. One of the guys got down to give them our dets.
They took down our details including car dets, passenger info, destination etc.
The group which went ahead said there's checking at Kolhapur. Half n hour to get there.

Okay, that was a confusion only. They meant checking before Kolhapur.
Which we did sometime back. Crossed Belgavi toll point now.

It was written so but now I'm confused. Anyway it was Dudhganga bridge and Google says, Kongnoli Toll Plaza
Smooth road, driver of the moment is kinda excited.

It looks cloudy. Hope it doesn't rain on the way and add to our woes. As is we're behind schedule.

Some awesome view! Was smelling Eucali earlier. Now it's sandalwood
Thanks to the speed restraint of the car we're behind schedule. Expecting to get to the border around midnight. Some folks said they're open late also. So the plan is to get past the border...

... find a place to stop, get some shut eye for few hours and start early, like today, to beat the daytime traffic.

Map said Kirwatti town. Well if this was town, I live in an effin metro city.
There was checking at one point. Google map mentioned it as 'Office of the assistant conservator of forests'.

Road block in the Aksur-Mangalore route. Fresh concrète on the roads.! Retracing and trying to find an alternate route. A friendly local told us to take the Mangolore highway. That's another hour added to the time.

Taking NH17 now.

Toll junction on NH17. They asked origin and destination of journey and asked for our papers.

There was checking at Shiroor toll gates. Took down our dets and made entries on that.

Crossed Kerala border.

Cleared checking at Manjeshwaram. There was barely anyone. Possibly due to late hours.
They fumigated the car.
Then v had to give some dets at medical desk and after that at the counter for which we were issued tokens. Most probably we'd be going into institutional quarantine...

... cz we're coming from Red zone.
Given couple of instructions
1. Show up at assigned institutional quarantine (we were given couple of choices and asked to pick), get cleared for home quarantine if they're amenable
2. Call the local police station 4 further instructions.

Manjeswaram check point. Everyone was very nice and helpful.

They mentioned that there wasn't much crowd today, when we asked.
After the verification, v got a msg of confirmation on our mob no.
When v go ahead, there's a police point. They'll ask for point of origin, destination address, mob no and local police station.
They're going...

... to tell u to call the local police before u reach, for further instructions including the app download.
Also, red zones are decided based on locality also, not just city. One of the guys got home quarantine cz he's green zone. Possibly, they're updated dynamically.

p.s. Carry Odomos if you're planning to sleep in the car, like us. There r pesky mozzies around.

The guys r snoring.

I'm on lookout duty.

So we started at 3 30am today, and drive to Wayanad. One of the guys will get off here. He's staying at his relative's empty house for the quarantine period so v r taking a break here. His family'd left breakfast and coffee for us on the table when v reached.

Once v crossed into border, it was evident how much effort has gone into controlling Covid so far. We were stopped at district borders and papers were inspected, and instructions repeated every time. Maha and Karnataka were only checking our papers and taking down the dets...

... but Kerala is cross checking with their database. So if anyone is planning to bluff their way into kerala, I suggest u drop the plan. All the officials have the data access on their mobile devices and they're verifying status with our Norka/Covid19jagratha reg nos.

They're not just checking our ID and permissions, but also pretty much tracking the trip by logging an entry and exit into each district also from what we saw.
I'm amazed and awed by the dedication of our officers who were awake at the wee hours of the day even, for this exercise

There was checking at Lakkidi before the Thamarsseri pass. They cross checked vehicle number, I suppose to mark exit. Asked for our origin and destination and wished luck for the long drive ahead.

Got home. Finally.
Will explain what happened in between later.
Now I need a shower and gonna bleach the shiz outta my clothes.

Btw, thanks to the roundabout trip - and all the traffic control we actually saw this graffiti. https://twitter.com/PRamdas_TNIE/status/1260193443021680641?s=19