My shoulder began to play up and the last straw was my tooth started a right royal ache. That was it. We needed to head home to my bed. Yes, it's great coming to Goa and working and getting the house all organised, but, its fine as long as you are fine. For me a hint of illness and I want my own bed and pillow.

So, instead of leaving a day later on Sunday, we left on Friday. We had stacked the car the night before and so just with a flask of tea and locking up the house, closing the water meter and gate, we were off by 5am. The whole village slept as we left, even the village dogs. Usually they will set up a howling if they are disturbed. But stacking the night before definitely made a huge difference to our departure time. No stumbling and falling in the dark for one as well, as the front of the house is a little messy with the heavy rains and thick moss on the path coming in.

The roads are empty at the hour and the street lights are still on in the semi darkness. We now are pros at choosing the correct road out and so head straight out via Panjim , Madgaon and Canacona and soon we were at the border of Goa and Karnataka. We were not stopped to check for liquor. They would have been disappointed anyway as we are almost teetotallers. The men had one caju feni each on the last day out of Goa just as a last hurrah. They douse it in seven up so I wonder what the final taste is like!

There is a thick fog clinging to the tops of the fields as we zip by. It looks eerie like we are in some supernatural place. Every November, as we head home, we notice this phenomenon right upto Karwar. It does not happen in the warmer months. Once we are out of Goa and into Karnataka and the sun begins to climb, the fog dissipates and the aircon needs to be racked up.

There is a pit stop that we have in Karwar. On the highway there is a veggie place with the most regular dosas and idlis but the coffee is divine. We stop for the coffee as most often we have a box of paos which we have lathered with butter and cheese to avoid the long pit stops. The place is always crowded with travellers and this time it seems to be reeling from a government diktat, to move five feet away from the road because of road widening.

The little open air restaurant was gobbled up by the road, so Bonny had to find the actual hotel to buy the coffee from and each coffee costs Rs 23 now! Yeah -- gone are the days of a 5 buck coffee. Thankfully they don't over sweeten it and so I can handle a cup, inspite of being diabetic.

The roads are clear and wonderful, but I spend most of my time from Karwar onwards scrabbling for money to pay the endless tolls. But like I said earlier, it's worth it, the roads are smooth and great to drive on. The only point I wish they would control are the tractors swinging onto the roads from the villages. Quite sure they are the cause of several lorries and cars that had crashed into the gutters, on the way.