With just two weeks to go, flight tickets were expensive. Those within budget were at very odd times. Plus, transportation within Pune was also difficult to find - there was only one automatic car available for rent during our time. All research proved that it would be a costly exercise. As I was discussing the same with Nikesh, he gave the idea to do a road trip from Bangalore. It is only 13.5 hrs. This solved both the local transportation problem as well as the BLR - Pune problem. 13.5 hrs was long but doable in a day. So, with this the plan was set.
Day 1 -
We left Bangalore at 4 am on Sat 29th. A day before I had made plans on how to optimize the car time - Watch movies. Borrowed iPad from papa and bought an elastic wire to hang the iPad on the back of car seat. I had tried to order a fancy car accessory for this but somehow the transaction did not go through. Hence, this cheap-o-hack was done and I was very proud of it.
We had our breakfast at Chitradurga and lunch at Sankeshwar. Lunch was at Hotel Sarkaar and this was almost at the Karnataka - Maharashtra border. We had this delicious Soul Kadhi made with kokum and curd, along with some delicious simple food.
We reached Pune at around 8:30 pm. It took us 2 hrs just to cover the last 30 kms stretch - a perfect welcome by Pune traffic. For dinner, we decided to check out the iconic Dorabjee and sons restaurant - a classic Parsi cuisine. Since we reached quiet late, there was no vegetarian option left except for Salli which is nothing but thin sliced potato chips. Amazing that Parsis call this as a side dish. The Dhansak dal was amazing. Food again was simple but very well made.
Day 2 :
Our first stop was breakfast at the legendary Cohuman cafe. Simple omlette and bread-butter has not tasted this good ever. I had a cheese double egg omlette and those cheese chunks made it incredibly awesome.
Next, we went to Pune University where Kanishka reminisced her college days. The campus itself is very beautiful with lot of Banyan trees. With winter break + today being Sunday, it was mostly closed. We walked around for some time.
Post campus, we decided to have lunch at FC road where we did some shopping. Our lunch was at Sukanta restaurant which was ordinary. Though the restaurant had katiputli outside their premises which was a good idea. We directly went to Sunburn from there. We were on time and hence one of the first few to enter the premises. Sunburn was at Oxford valley which is practically outside Pune. The road itself for last 4 kms is under construction.
From the above list, we listened to Madoc, Sartek for some time folllwed by Shiva Mandvi for some time. Followed by Afro Bros and Salvator Ganacci. The night liners Alan Walker was amazing. We attended Armin Van Buuren only for 30 mins and then left the venue as we had an early day the next day. I did not like Salvator Ganaaci that much but Afro Bros were good. Shiva Mandvi was ok. The laser lights and other spectacle was our first time and we found it to be amazing. The VIP section tickets were not of that much use as we were frequently walking to checkout other artists.
Alan Walker was really good. We loved the music. Kanishka even danced to some of his tunes. It was irresistible to not move on his beats. We also listened to Candice Redding for few mins and found her to be good as well. The food stalls were expensive and not that tasty either.
Day 2 : NYE day -
We started our day earlier and went to meet Shweta didi. Her place was about 45 mins away. We were there at 7:30 am and had good time meeting everyone there. Chole bhature for breakfast was also amazing. We checked out her army salon and then went to hotel to get ready for Sunburn. For lunch, we went to this amazing place Shabree which served authentic Mahrashtrian food on the way to Sunburn.
Our non familiarity with artists made us decided to the main stage itself. Still, we would listen to main artist for 30-40 mins and then sneak out to listen to others. We started with Ellie Prohan - a London based DJ. Shaan was an Indian DJ and decent. We sneaked out to listen to Aaryan Gala and found him to be pretty good to. Gully Gang or Divine is the Indian hip hop band and it was refreshing to listen to rap lyrics in hindi. It is time that someone did that. They did it well too.
Mercer was ok but we went for 18 East which I thought to be the best artist. He had a total trance setup in which he would blast off a suber high bass sound that would make hair stand tall on your hands. Since it was on a side stage, we were able to walk all the way to front and stand in front of speakers. Amazing experience.
The second last act was by Krewella a duo female band and they had very good tracks. They themselves were very energetic and engaged the crowd thoroughly. DJ snake was the highlight of the evening but we found him to be ok. Little mainstream so to say. But still we stuck out for the midnight fireworks
Day 4:
We left little late at 10 am. We had quick breakfast at Kattikarr which serves only Misal - a local Puneri dish. Misal was very spicy and chilly. I was trying to order a high spicy one when the server asked to switch to medium which was also very spicy for my taste buds. We stopped at Kolhapur for a Punjabi lunch and then later at Upadhyay for dinner. I was trying to finish sacred games on the way back but it is still pending.
On the forward journey, I saw Tumbadd on iPad and totally loved it. It is definitely a very unique and stylized film. Would rate it 4/5. We also saw Raazi along the journey which is also a great film. Comicstaan episodes were an easy and perfect watch along the way too.
Sunburn overall was interesting. Definitely some great music and now I know whom to follow in the EDM arena. A good short trip to end this very travel heavy year of 2018!
