^^@Off Roadie, thanks for following the thread devotedly!
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The threads on this forum talked about the roads between Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaum being 2-lane roads with slow progress, and probably the only area on the Bangalore - Pune highway where the km/hr goes down.
But what they don't tell you that this is a two lane highway going through some really beautiful scenery, the red soil of Karnataka amidst the greenery and curvy routes really take your mind off the road and into another dimension.
If reduced speeds is the price to pay to pass through such beautiful routes, then I am sure a sucker for this! I am so lost in that stretch that I almost forget to take pictures of the surroundings.
Soon once we bypass the bustling city of Belgaum, one that is frequented (hometown) by some of my good friends. Funny aspect - one of them is a Kannadiga and the other Marathi, and yet both have individually admitted that they don't feel if they belong to the city completely. Apparently Belgaum has the history of belonging both to Karnataka & Maharashtra, and the city has a good share of both cultures and communities, and the occasional (
but repeated) political rallies by parties belonging to both sects.
A short distance ahead I see a signpost stating the distance to Pune is only another 300 odd kilometers, and we decide to have an early lunch break, as then I could cover the final stretch non-stop. Fortunately another Kamat (
probably the last one on this route) comes up and we make a detour.
I had mentioned how the Kamat at Ranebennur seemed devoid of any crowd. Well this one was stark empty! We cautiously enter the parking bay and ask the sole guy outside - he says it's open!
However the manager is less enthusiastic and gives us only two options - Idli/Wada Sambhar or Puri Bhaji, nothing else. We opt for the former and quickly finish up our meal.
Moving ahead, we pass through some lovely stretch, and for the first time, my mom suggests me to stop-over. When we were passing by Belgaum (& while at Kamat), the sun was out and it was actually hot outside. However by now the clouds had made a re-entry and there was the possibility of rain.
I was all game - I stop at a lovely elevated turn and hop out with the 70-300mm lens, using it for the first time on today's drive. And within seconds I start clicking away!
Finally my mom gets the idea that I might actually never come back to the car unless she intervenes! So with a drudgery look, like a kid who's candy has been snatched from his hands
, I get back on the road!
Now around the time we passed Belgaum, the DTE indicator came up, indicating there was fuel only for an estimated distance of 70 odd kilometers. Although it wouldn't have made that much difference, but I mentally decided to fill up in MH.
Problem? The border was a good 80 odd kms away!
On a serious note, I had already validated in the past that this amount can easily take me over 80 kms, however I didn't reveal that part of information to my mother. But I did inform her about the "reserve" amount left!
Result? Every petrol pump that we passed by, even the early lunch session, and including the photo session, my mom would start pestering/pleading with me.
Finally we reached the border passing into Kagal town, and we drove into the first petrol pump that came up. The DTE still showed a figure of 10kms, even after traveling around 80 odd kms since the fuel indicator came up.
I checked the tires for any low air pressure, all 4 seemed good enough, and we moved on. To my surprise, as if a tap was opened, once we passed the border, suddenly the amount of traffic just went up! Initially I thought this was due to the nearby presence of Kolhapur town, however it just worsened after we moved away from the city.
Soon we came to the toll gate of Tasawade, the first of the two toll gates that had a non-zero toll. I had collected over 20Rs in coins expecting these tolls in advance over the week. But I was in for a bit of surprise!
The same toll had a fare of 58 Rs on the way back, and now the rate had gone up by 4Rs to 62! Even the board seemed freshly painted. I queried the same to the attendant, however I did not get any response.
Similar was the case at the next toll which also had hiked the fare from 58 to 62Rs. However none of the other tolls all over the route had any change in their fares. I wonder if there is any means of checking this up - the tokens clearly mentioned the new amount.
The rest of the drive went past in a zip - I hardly have any re-collections of same. And we finally reached Pune exactly at 5, a good 12 hours after we started out from Bangalore.