Mangaluru: His first drive outside India was anything but a leisurely spin. At 67, Gopala Krishna Baliga found himself behind the wheel of a left-hand-drive camper van, negotiating Iceland’s windswept roads, narrow bridges and rugged terrain. For a man who boarded an aeroplane for the first time only at 52, it was a leap into adventure, 15 years in the making.Baliga, engineer-turned-businessman, and his wife Radhika,63, recently completed a 12-day road trip across Iceland, driving 2,450 km in June. Their journey took them along the country’s nearly 1,500-km Ring Road and into the wilderness for treks, birdwatching and nights spent inside a camper van.“I have retired from business, not from life,” said Baliga, who drew inspiration from conservationist and former bookseller GN Ashoka Vardhana. The couple, who make one or two international trips a year and travel almost every month while in India, meticulously plan their journeys. Their children, Muralidhar and Madhukar, are also avid travellers and help prepare itineraries after returning from their overseas trips.“There are many more countries I want to visit, but at my age, I felt I should finish the adventure trips first,” Baliga said. Iceland, known as the ‘Land of ice and fire’, offered an otherworldly landscape. “Some volcanoes are still smoking. At some places, you walk barely 500m from flat land and find a glacier. In summer, melting glacial ice flows into the sea. There is also 24-hour sunlight,” he said.The couple drove 200-300 km a day, branching off the Ring Road for sightseeing and trekking. Strong winds, sometimes at 30-40 kmph, made driving challenging. Narrow roads and single-lane bridges demanded caution. On day one, before entering the highway, Baliga spent about 30 minutes familiarising himself with the left-hand-drive camper. “My wife teased me, asking whether we would complete the trip. I wanted to be steady before entering roads where the speed limit is 90 kmph,” he recalled.The camper, which cost about Rs 2.5 lakh, had folding beds and a small kitchen. The couple stayed at designated campsites with common toilets and bathrooms, and also spent nights in the cramped camper. They carried ready-to-eat food packets and bought eggs, bread and yoghurt from supermarkets. “A hotel meal could cost around Rs 3,500 per head,” he said.A birder, Baliga documented around 25 species in Iceland, including puffins. The couple once drove four hours just to spot the tiny seabirds. Armed with a camera, he also recorded seals and an Arctic fox.With cameras monitoring traffic and no free parking, rule violations can attract hefty penalties. “They retain credit card details to recover fines or dues. I am happy we did not pay a single penalty,” Baliga said. An Indian driving licence is valid there, he added.Baliga spent three months studying Iceland’s roads, rules and practices before the trip. Technology and translation tools helped overcome language barriers. Though summer meant missing the northern lights, they said, Iceland’s wilderness, waterfalls and raw landscape made it a trip of a lifetime.
