[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by SDP

There is an interesting side-story about our XUV5OO when we parked at the Lingamala waterfalls. Don't want to break the flow here. Would include towards the end of the log.

Don't do this!! You mention about an interesting story and did not mention the story. Story

Edit: DUMA looks gorgeous in the b&w pic and in 0113.jpg!

[SDP]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Don't do this!! You mention about an interesting story and did not mention the story. Story

Edit: DUMA looks gorgeous in the b&w pic and in 0113.jpg!

Half the travelogue is still pending. We covered Tapola on Sunday first half. Around 100 more pictures coming up. The side story would be at the end :-)

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by SDP

Half the travelogue is still pending. We covered Tapola on Sunday first half. Around 100 more pictures coming up. The side story would be at the end :-)

Excellent Travellogue ! I am glued on. Rated a well deserved 5 stars.

Did you get a chance to do any mild off-roading with Duma? If yes - please share pictures.

[neofromcapone]

Rated a well deserved 5 stars, Great Travelogue. Look Forward to more and details of the place where you stayed.

Thanks .

[Travel_newbie]

Hi SDP,

can you please share the details of the accommodation and how did you book it?

[SDP]

Originally Posted by aniket.tiwari27

Excellent clicks SDP. The place you stayed at is a resort or an independent bunglaw home stay? It will be great if you could share some details on the same. It will be of great help for my next trip to Mahab.

Regards,
Aniket

Originally Posted by neofromcapone

Rated a well deserved 5 stars, Great Travelogue. Look Forward to more and details of the place where you stayed.

Thanks .

Originally Posted by Travel_newbie

Hi SDP,

can you please share the details of the accommodation and how did you book it?

Thanks Guys. The place is a company guesthouse and is meant for employees and their families. Sorry for not clarifying earlier.

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Excellent Travellogue ! I am glued on. Rated a well deserved 5 stars.

Did you get a chance to do any mild off-roading with Duma? If yes - please share pictures.

Thanks for the rating! I am not much of a off-roading person. I love my cars and don't believe that they are designed to handle rocks, mud and water.

[SDP]

Day 2 - Tapola

Morning breakfast - Aloo parathas with a dollop of butter on top!


I had cleaned the XUV in the morning and it started looking much fresher.




A couple of cats playing next to the car.


I put on a polarizer and there was noticeable difference wrt the reflections on the glass and the hood.


Finally around 9:30AM we started for Tapola. Its around 30 kms and the navigator was showing around 1 hr as the estimated travel time.


Early Sunday morning in a sleepy town.




As we approach Mahabaleshwar, the fog reappeared.




Near the Venna lake, again there was nothing visible.


The silhouettes of the trees make some interesting shapes.

[rkurup]

Excellent write-up SDP! Can't tell for sure what is more beautiful - the stunning pictures of the Ghats or your Duma! Waiting eagerly for the final installment.

[SDP]

Tapola - The Drive

The drive to Tapola was fantastic. Partly goes through forest. There are a few really small villages by the side of the road and that's the only human presence that you see on the complete route. Don't know whether it was because it was pretty early on Sunday morning, but there was zero vehicular traffic. No vehicle overtook us and there were less than 5 vehicles that passed us from the other side.

Here are some memories of the beautiful drive:




Apparently we passed by a lake once we took the route to Tapola. The navigation system showed the lake, but we couldn't see a thing. Dense fog everywhere.










The road was narrow. Stopped at a place where I could park. A mini photo-shoot ensued.




A few kilometers ahead, we passed by a big waterfall. Stopped the car a bit ahead and then walked back.


The view of the valley from there.




A few young folks enjoying the water.

[SDP]

Tapola - Final leg and the boat-ride

The following screenshot from Google-maps shows the Tapola area.
As you approach Tapola, you get to see the Koyna backwaters on the right hand side.



We got tempted to stop at a bunch of places.


Finally stopped at one place which was just too compelling.




Should we take a short-cut from here? Nah, XUV is no mountain-goat.




As we descent into Tapola, the scenery becomes more beautiful.


As you move ahead, the stretch gets quite narrow at some places and you get to see the backwaters on either side of the road!


The Tapola boat-club.


We opted for a short-ride to a nearby island by a power-boat.


The water was brown (unlike the greenish-blue shade that I remember from my Kaas-Bamnoli trip in Sep'11).




















In 15-20 minutes, we approached the island.


Unfortunately because of the design of our boat, it wasn't able to reach the shore.


So near but so far. After enjoying the scene from the boat itself for 5 odd minutes, we head back. Its already noon. The drive back to the room is another one and half hours. With kids along, you can't mess with lunch-times.

[SDP]

The Last Chapter : Return from Tapola, a quick stop at Parsi point and Take me home

We reached the shore and saw this. Not sure what were these guys trying to do? Wash their vehicles, possibly?


The XUV5OO parked at the Tapola boat club. Stitched 2 photos to show what a difference a circular polarizer can do to the reflections that spoil quite a few photos.


While taking the photos of the car, I noticed that there was something moving on the tree behind. Closer inspection showed a colony of bats.


I always thought, bats are complete black. That brownish yellow color was surprising.


We started climbing back.


I spotted the island which we visited during the boat-ride. See a small boat there?


The fog returns.




Outside temperature was a pleasant 20 degrees.


We passed by the same waterfall again. The visibility was better now and we could see the top portion of the falls as well.


Reached Panchgani. Had a quick lunch. Time to say goodbye!


A quick stop at the Parsai Point in Panchgani.


See the Panchgani tableland in the background? The mountain with a clipped top.






The drive through the Pasarani ghat was not as comfortable as my past trips. While coming back, you are driving on the valley side of the road and sitting tall does not help one bit .




These kind of trimmed trees are common on this stretch towards Wai/Satara.


As we join back NH4, Duma reached its first milestone - 1000kms on the ODO.


A couple of random snaps during the drive back to Mumbai.




Most of the photos taken during driving are by my wife. But even she focused on listening to Music and watching the navigator screen during the return journey. The traffic on NH4 was OKish. Things improved after we joined back the Pune-Mumbai expressway. Sailed through without any hiccups and reached home around 8:30pm. A short week-end trip came to an happy end.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by SDP

The Bhilar and the Lingamala Waterfalls
....
There is an interesting side-story about our XUV5OO when we parked at the Lingamala waterfalls. Don't want to break the flow here. Would include towards the end of the log.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Don't do this!! You mention about an interesting story and did not mention the story. Story
..

Here we go:
When we went to see the Lingamala waterfalls, we had a approximate location in mind. When we reached about there, I parked the car by the road-side. There was enough space and I parked the XUV perpendicular to the road with a huge Sintex water tank in front us. While the family stayed back in the car, I got out to ask for the exact location. I switched off the engine and left the key in the "Accessories" position as the music was on. Another reason why I left the key that way was that - with windows rolled up, without the blower on, it can get pretty uncomfortable in the car in a really short while.

Anyways, I closed the driver side door and walked back some 30-40 meters to ask a gentleman about the exact location and the approach route. Must have taken me about 4-5 minutes. When I started back towards the car, I saw my mother-in-law with the door open, about to step out and waiving at me. When I reached the car and opened the driver side door, wifey told me that the car is making some weird noise after each half a minute or so. While she was narrating this, it happened right in front me. clearly the sound of a motor, almost like a growl and the steering wheel vibrated.
I immediately turned the car-off and took out the key. There was a look of terror on my daughter's face. Wife continued - it happened 5-6 times and the entire vehicle shook. They seriously got worried if the vehicle is going to start and run into the Sintex tank or going to back up to the middle of the road.

I don't use the start-stop feature and it is always in off position. So not sure if it was the starter motor trying to start the engine. If that is the case, this would be a huge issue. But, I don't believe that was the issue.

In order not to scare them further, I joked about it and said "Remember its the Cheetah! It will growl once in a while!". Then we got down and saw the magnificent Lingamala falls. After returning, I assured my wife that it must have been some minor motor malfunctioning - it won't start and drive the car on its own.

Later that day, while I was waiting with the kids sleeping in the back at the Old Mahabaleshwar temple, I kept a close eye on the car to see if it gives any trouble. Started checking functionalities one by one and realized that the left-rear window is not rolling down. Re-verified the window-lock button, it was still not winding down from the driver console. Walked over to that door, opened it and tried from the dedicated control on that door. Still nothing. Most likely, that was the motor which was causing the sound and the vibration earlier in the day. Not sure though.

Restarted the car a couple of times, hoping that M&M would have some collaboration with Microsoft Windows. Still nothing. Checked it again 2-3 times during that day and next day. No luck. Seemed like the Duma needed to go to the clinic (Service Center).

Then during the journey back, somewhere on the outskirts of Pune, my son discovered that the window is working again.

Have spoken to the RM briefly about it a couple of day later and specifically mentioned that the problem disappeared on its own and I need his help for diagnosis. Let's see.

[joshuakeys]

Mahabaleshwar is an amazing place, Been there twice, In the first trip, it was around 9Pm we reached Pachgani & took the Ghat , By the time we reached Mahabaleshwar we could see a dense smoke, we thought something was burning out there, But later on we realized, its the thick fog. Man it was an amazing experience. Looking at your pictures, feel like making another trip to Mahabaleshwar.

thanks for sharing SDP. Your pictures refreshed my memories.

Cheers

Josh

[scopriobharath]

Excellent pictures SDP. These are Motivating me to go to Mahabaleshwar.

Regarding your vehicle motor behaving weirdly, request the A.S.S to check the micro-hybrid system + starter motor + ignition system circuit. They all are connected to the same "electronic-board", so there is a chance of a malfunction (Hope not).

It might also have tried to "short" owing to the mist and moisture in Mahabaleshwar, which would have subsided once the mist disappeared from the circuit.

[SDP]

Promoting a few good practices:

(Thanks SpeedSatya for the trigger)
1. EVERYBODY in the car, including ALL 3 on the middle row remain belted up at all times.



2. Even when the kids doze off, we retain the seat-belt fastened. We don't encourage sleeping flat on the seat (even if there is enough space) as you can not wear seat-belts in that position.

3. No kids in the front-row. Have been very particular about it since we got the XUV, which has a passenger side airbag.