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Old 17th May 2006, 18:07   #16
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Bangalore - Trivandrum, Info needed

Hey every body,

I will be travelling to trivandrum on the 27th of May by road. I would be driving my OHC.

wondering if anyone has already done a trip form B'lore to trivandrum and could some one throw me some info. on the road and etc etc to trivandrum. This would be my second one. but ofcourse the first one was done in a zen but its the Honda this time, so pretty sure Ill enjoy my ride.

Will be waiting for replies. so do drop in a few lines on the road etc.

Rgds
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Old 5th June 2006, 13:17   #17
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the fastest way to go down south is via Expressway to Pune and then via NH4 until Hubli and then NH63 to Ankola when it terminates into NH17. Unless of course you have a real reason to go to Goa, there is no need to go via NH17 from Panvel.
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Old 6th June 2006, 19:49   #18
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Minardi:
Now you tell me. After I safered ( suffered ) on the NH 17 back and forth :-)
Folks were also telling me that the route from Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Nippani - Sawantwadi is faster and smoother to Goa. Yes I did want to see Goa too and hence I had a reason to go via there.

But on the other hand, I looked at the route the private bus operators take. And they take the NH 17 and I figured that they would know the most fastest and economical route to take and hence followed their route.

Thanks anyway for letting me know.

Venkat
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Old 6th June 2006, 19:53   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Venkat
Kolhapur - Nippani - Sawantwadi is faster and smoother to Goa.
Is this the one that goes via the Amboli (spl?) Ghat ? Nice lil ghat there.
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Old 6th June 2006, 19:57   #20
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Follks,

I got back from the Mumbai Kerala road trip on Saturday the 3rd and am just about catching up.

Here are the summary stats:

No of days on road - 15
Total Kms covered - 3632
Total Fuel ltrs consumed - 331
Max kms on one day - 657
Max kms sector - Goa to Calicut
No of Punctures - Nil
Movies seen - 12
Bio breaks - Now come on....you must be joking

Coming back...the log is up for uploading as also the photos.

But any ideas of the best way to put them up?

Venkat
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Old 9th June 2006, 17:24   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Venkat
Minardi:
Now you tell me. After I safered ( suffered ) on the NH 17 back and forth :-)
Folks were also telling me that the route from Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Nippani - Sawantwadi is faster and smoother to Goa. Yes I did want to see Goa too and hence I had a reason to go via there.

But on the other hand, I looked at the route the private bus operators take. And they take the NH 17 and I figured that they would know the most fastest and economical route to take and hence followed their route.

Thanks anyway for letting me know.

Venkat
Venkat,

I didn't know of this Nipani-Sawantwadi route. Thanks for telling me, I'll try next time.

BTW, I was not referring to a short route to Goa. I was referring to a short route to Kerala bypassing Goa. That is Belgaum-Hubli-Yellapur-Ankola. Once every 2 years I go to Mangalore by that route.

The bus people (to Goa) have 2 reasons not to take the other route.
1. They travel in the night, less traffic. But for cars, overtaking traffic during daytime on a one-lane highway such as NH17 can be a problem.
2. Buses do not have permit to go via Karnataka. If they do, they'll have to pay more money. It is easier for them to just go to one state (the other being their home state)

M
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Old 9th June 2006, 18:41   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Venkat
Follks,


Total Kms covered - 3632
Total Fuel ltrs consumed - 331

Venkat
Fuel Efficiency for your car seams to be quite low
Its 3632/331 = 10.97 kmpl.

Thats really low for a maruti.. I assume a Maruti 800 should give 15 - 16 kmpl on this trip ..... Right?
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Old 10th June 2006, 16:39   #23
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Fuel average

Quote:
Originally Posted by greatDrive
Fuel Efficiency for your car seams to be quite low
Its 3632/331 = 10.97 kmpl.

Thats really low for a maruti.. I assume a Maruti 800 should give 15 - 16 kmpl on this trip ..... Right?
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Being a CA myself, I am happy to note that there are auditors in the groups as well

Coming back, here is my feedback:

1. The car was a Honda City, 1.3L, 99 model which has crossed 1,50,000 kms.

2. Having said this, the numbers are not fully reflective since there was some fuel when we began the trip and some when we came back.

3. Here is the sector wise averages for each of the interim fuelling stages[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]12.21, 12.38, 12.82, 11.39, 9.75, 10.65, 13.21, 12.49, 10.93, 13.38, [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]And this is the overall average : 11.92[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]


Venkat
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Old 10th June 2006, 16:43   #24
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The bus people (to Goa) have 2 reasons not to take the other route.
1. They travel in the night, less traffic. But for cars, overtaking traffic during daytime on a one-lane highway such as NH17 can be a problem.
2. Buses do not have permit to go via Karnataka. If they do, they'll have to pay more money. It is easier for them to just go to one state (the other being their home state)


M,
Thanks for letting me know. I was not aware of these issues.

Venkat
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Old 11th June 2006, 23:33   #25
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The cost of petrol, I found also varies quite widely from state to state.

Goa is the cheapest, followed by Kerala, Maharashtra and then Karnataka. The difference between Goa and Karnataka is about Rs 5. The diff between Goa and Maharashtra is about Rs 3. Very close to the borders on both sides, there are petrol pumps that are intended to cater largely to the vehicles from neighbouring states that come to fill petrol there.


Reminded me of the Beer Bars that used to line both sides of the road, entering Daman from dry Vapi.

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Old 13th June 2006, 20:51   #26
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Road Signs

Here is my take on the road signs in each of the 4 states we travelled to.

1. Maharashtra:

Quite OK. Serves the purpose. Though increasing use of English would be better.

2. Goa:

Quite nice. In fact the best of the 4 states. The maps and road signs even in small internal roads are quite clear. Clearly a state that geared to tourists.

3. Karnataka:

OK...in a ho hum kind of way. Could definitely do better.

4. Kerala:

A close second to Goa. Makes a good effort. A lot of signs are there, but often leaves essentials out. For example the state is geared to tourism by putting up local tourist important signs outside all major cities. So you end up having Siva temples in most places nicely sign posted. But within cities, when the NH 17 becomes like a local road, there are no signs.

We had to often stop, roll down the windows, att the ICE and ask for directions.

Actually we visited a 5th State. Tamil Nadu. We drove past the border at Kumily, and entered Tamil Nadu, just to say that we went to that state too :-)

Venkat
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Old 14th June 2006, 14:09   #27
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Route Planning

As part of my ongoing sharing of knowledge, here is the next post on different aspects of how I managed the trip.

I had decided on a few things before we started.

- No night driving. Max upto 8 pm or so. Start early, Reach safely as the road signs suggest.

- Night halts at Hotels with decent creature comforts.

In order to determine the distance to be covered on each day, I needed to know the travel time and road conditions between sectors. Fortunately I had the previous experience of my own travels on that route. But conditions can change and I took the help of

- Lonely Planet, where they give bus travel times between cities.
- TTK road maps for estimating Kms between diff routes
- Outlook Kerala travel guide. Very excellent source for that state.
- I also had taken the WIAA route maps but that was consulted very little.

I must say that at the end of the trip, we travelled most days as per the travel time estimated. Variances, if they occured were due to

- Rains
- Local traffic jams

Venkat
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Old 20th June 2006, 23:27   #28
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Driving on your own

After the trip, I asked myself a question. What if I had flown down to Cochin and then taken a hired car with driver? How would that have worked?

Here is my analysis:

1. Time: We spent 4 days driving to Kerala and back. 2 going and 2 coming back. So one way was that we would have saved that much time flying. But hey what the hell? We spent quality time with the family in the car. And we stopped to stand and stare where we felt liked it.

2. Cost: Considering the cost of airfare + local car hire for 11 days, we definitely saved money by driving on our own. And whatever I spent on upgrading the car has residual value after the trip too.

3. Comfort: No hassles with coolies. No lost luggage. No broken handles. No delayed flights. No weight restrictions. No baggage restrictions. No reaching two hours before. No airline food ( how could I forget that one ). Wide choice of inflight movies on the ICE. Door-to-door service. Load car in at home and arrive at the foyer of the hotel and get it picked up by the bell boy. No fighting with luggage carts that have a direction of their own.

4. Safety: Car and driver well known for safety record. Not trusting the collective lives of your family in the hands of some hero lurching around in a ill maintained vehicle. No night driving further reduced chances of accident. And I do not drink either.

Venkat

PS: Am I forgetting anything?
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