It was one of those wintry dawns in Bangalore, with the slightest hint of chill, when we set out for Wonderla. We were 10, 6 huddled up in a car and 4 on two bikes. At a short rendezvous in BTM Layout it dawned upon us that but for Bala (who drove the car), no one was really sure about the route to the Mysore Road including the bikers. Once we were there it would merely be a question of spotting the Wonderla arch on the road. We set off, each at his own pace, for a while atleast. Soon Papa and Sankar joined us on the Kanakapura Road which led, eventually, to the Mysore Road. To quell any doubts, we had confirmations at routine intervals and a name - 'Mysore Nice Road' popped up all too often. Deciding upon trusting one set of sources, we sped along and in time, a highway took shape. I recognized it from a Bangalore - Mysore journey undertaken the previous year in a cab. It also struck me that I'd really loved this stretch of the journey. Nice road indeed, I thought ! Another halt on the road told us that it wasn't the easiest thing to coordinate a car and two bikes on a road trip. Bala had apparently taken a different route in reaching the Nice Road and the car, presumably, was ahead of us. After breakfast at a Sagar (outside city limits !), we were back on track. We then spotted the giant-wheel which is visible at quite a distance away on the Mysore Road. The kind of morning it had turned out to be was exemplified by the fact that we managed to miss the ahoy-welcome aboard arch. Drove right past it, oblivious to its presence, until alerted by Papa. All that was relegated to the back of mind though, once we were inside the premises as I began to take in Wonderla.
The first thing that struck me was that the V-Guard people had taken care of the teeny little things whose absence plagues many a tourist spot. There was, for example, a board with details about the BMTC Volvo timings to the two major bus stations in Bangalore. A good Sunday turn-out enlivened the place and there was an air of expectation as we trundled in when they opened. The water rides were to open at 12.30 and we gave a shot at the 'Dry Rides'. We couldn't have chosen a wackier ride to begin with. The Hurricane, as it is called (in hindsight, an exaggeration of the pace), twisted and turned its occupants every which way possible, at considerable heights too. I was to learn that many of their contraptions included all of the robotic motions. We were hung topsy-turvy, rotated upon as many axes as one could conceive and brought crashing down from time to time. It went on like this on rides with names like 'Y-Scream', 'Wonderla Bomba' etc. Each ride had its own way of making one's insides twirl and we gave all of them a shot.
Oddly though, the closest we came to nausea was in the pirate ship that one finds in many a theme park and swings like a pendulum. It occured to us that the constricted space (you were pretty much immobile from the chest downwards) is often the problem. There were rides that looked scarier and proved to be real toss-ups but had one thing in common - ample leg-room. Parallels were drawn between bus rides in hilly tracts with hair-pin bends and we agreed that room to move about or shift made a difference.
It was time for the wet rides soon and we kicked off with the Wonder Splash, as is custom there. We then moved on to The Waves which had 3 metre high waves unleashed in 4 grades leading up to a crescendo. We followed it up with the Tubes, Vertical Falls, Wavy Falls, Water Pendulums and so on. As it was, we missed some of the shows that Wonderla had to offer such as the Musical Fountain and Virtual Reality. We didn't have time for the giant-wheel either. I had to voice my approval at what Wonderla had to offer for the 600 bucks dished out, for the fee included all the attractions in the park.
It was dark by the time we left and we were more or less confident about the return trip. It turned out otherwise. After the Mysore Nice Road, we found ourselves on a road completely unlike the one we'd travelled on in the morning. Moving on inspite of persisting doubts we decided against a right at a junction and soon it became clear that that was the way to go. Ananthram ('For') (who was driving now) and I were forced to take a different route. Relying on directions and a notional sense of 'GPS' as 'For' liked to call it, we were speeding along. Just when it looked like it might be a long night, we spotted the car and the other bike on a deserted road somewhere in Banashankari. It was a question of following Bala's car after that and he appeared to thread his way through Banashankari, J P Nagar and Jayanagar. After a sumptuous dinner at Anjappar in Koramangala, we headed for our homes. A great trip apart, the fact that I was unsure of the route during the morning trip and on the way back meant that I was inclined to view Wonderla as a retreat somewhere on the Mysore Road. The haziness lingered. It might have been Shangri-La ! Perhaps I read too much into it.
The first thing that struck me was that the V-Guard people had taken care of the teeny little things whose absence plagues many a tourist spot. There was, for example, a board with details about the BMTC Volvo timings to the two major bus stations in Bangalore. A good Sunday turn-out enlivened the place and there was an air of expectation as we trundled in when they opened. The water rides were to open at 12.30 and we gave a shot at the 'Dry Rides'. We couldn't have chosen a wackier ride to begin with. The Hurricane, as it is called (in hindsight, an exaggeration of the pace), twisted and turned its occupants every which way possible, at considerable heights too. I was to learn that many of their contraptions included all of the robotic motions. We were hung topsy-turvy, rotated upon as many axes as one could conceive and brought crashing down from time to time. It went on like this on rides with names like 'Y-Scream', 'Wonderla Bomba' etc. Each ride had its own way of making one's insides twirl and we gave all of them a shot.
Oddly though, the closest we came to nausea was in the pirate ship that one finds in many a theme park and swings like a pendulum. It occured to us that the constricted space (you were pretty much immobile from the chest downwards) is often the problem. There were rides that looked scarier and proved to be real toss-ups but had one thing in common - ample leg-room. Parallels were drawn between bus rides in hilly tracts with hair-pin bends and we agreed that room to move about or shift made a difference.
It was time for the wet rides soon and we kicked off with the Wonder Splash, as is custom there. We then moved on to The Waves which had 3 metre high waves unleashed in 4 grades leading up to a crescendo. We followed it up with the Tubes, Vertical Falls, Wavy Falls, Water Pendulums and so on. As it was, we missed some of the shows that Wonderla had to offer such as the Musical Fountain and Virtual Reality. We didn't have time for the giant-wheel either. I had to voice my approval at what Wonderla had to offer for the 600 bucks dished out, for the fee included all the attractions in the park.
It was dark by the time we left and we were more or less confident about the return trip. It turned out otherwise. After the Mysore Nice Road, we found ourselves on a road completely unlike the one we'd travelled on in the morning. Moving on inspite of persisting doubts we decided against a right at a junction and soon it became clear that that was the way to go. Ananthram ('For') (who was driving now) and I were forced to take a different route. Relying on directions and a notional sense of 'GPS' as 'For' liked to call it, we were speeding along. Just when it looked like it might be a long night, we spotted the car and the other bike on a deserted road somewhere in Banashankari. It was a question of following Bala's car after that and he appeared to thread his way through Banashankari, J P Nagar and Jayanagar. After a sumptuous dinner at Anjappar in Koramangala, we headed for our homes. A great trip apart, the fact that I was unsure of the route during the morning trip and on the way back meant that I was inclined to view Wonderla as a retreat somewhere on the Mysore Road. The haziness lingered. It might have been Shangri-La ! Perhaps I read too much into it.
Note - I find out now that NICE stands for Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises. It may be one of those things that stick. That road will always be Nice Road.
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