[shashi63]

We as a family needed a break. The Kid had his vacation and the opportunity was too good to miss out. So it was decided to travel to Kerala, meet relatives and visit the temples around thus making it a pilgramage and also getting the opportunity to spend time with loved ones.

Summary -

Left Mumbai on the 15th of May 2014.

Day 1 - Mumbai - Tumkur
Day - 2 - Tumkur - Trissur
Day - 3 - Visit to Guruvayur Temple
Day - 4 - Visit to Chottanikkara and Nayarambalam
Day - 5 - Visit to the 3 Shiva temples - Ettamanur, Kaduthuruthy & Vaikom
Day -6 - Break at Trissur
Day 7 - Visit to relatives at Palakkad
Day - 8 - Break at Trissur with relatives
Day 9 - Left for Thirunelly - Visit to the oldest Maha Vishnu Temple in India
Day - 10 - Thirunelly to Hubli
Day -11 - Reached back to Thane

Total Distance Travelled - 3785Kms

Total Diesel - 161.5 litres.

Travel Quality - Excellent

Vehicle - Tata Club Class Manza VX

At 4:05AM on the 15th of May 2014,with the odometer showing 19690 and Shankar Mahadevan paying respects to Lord Ganesha through the Music System we set out for Kerala from Thane. By 5:15AM we were at the Petrol Pump after the Toll point on the expressway. Filled Nitrogen in the Tyres and set out. McD was closed when we reached at 6:30AM and we decided to move on and not stop for any break. The next stop took place at Sai Food Court on way to Kolhapur and we reached Tumkur ( naveen regency ) at 6:30PM. The Wife had packed food so we took small break on way to eat the packed food.

We left Naveen Regency at 6:00 AM the next day and reached Trissur in the evening around 4:30PM.

Stopped at Hosur for Breakfast, Took a break at Vaikundum and at Wadakancherry McD.

Left Trissur on the 23rd of May, stayed over at Thirunelly, Left Thirunelly on the 24th to stay at Gateway Lakeside, Hubli. Left Hubli at around 9:00 AM and reached Thane back on the 25th evening by 7:30PM.

Here are some snaps clicked by the little one and me during the drive and stay around Kerala.

Snaps in order

Snap 1 - First Quirky Sign on Road.. Dereams unlimited!
Snap 2 - Windmills
Snap 3- Vidhan Soudha on way to Hubli
Snap 4 - Dangerous - overloaded trucks came so close to hitting each other
Snap 5 - Early Morning Sunrise on way to Trissur
Snap 6- Breakfast at Saravana Bhavan, Hosur
Snap 7 - Vinayaka Mission, Salem
Snap 8 - Saravana Bhavan at Vaikundam, The Skoda is of Bhpian Satya from Chennai
Snap 9 - First sign that you are near kerala - coconut trees.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by shashi63

At 4:05AM on the 15th of May 2014,with the odometer showing 19690 and Shankar Mahadevan paying respects to Lord Ganesha through the Music System we set out for Kerala from Thane. By 5:15AM we were at the Petrol Pump after the Toll point on the expressway. Filled Nitrogen in the Tyres and set out. McD was closed when we reached at 6:30AM and we decided to move on and not stop for any break.
Snap 9 - First sign that you are near kerala - coconut trees.

Always check cold tire pressure. You drove for 1 hour and then checked your tires. Which could have been risky!

Anyways , nice pics



Sent from my mobile phone , please excuse typos

[ankan.m.blr]

Hi Shashi, nice pics. thanks for sharing. Where did you take pictures of elephants bathing? Also, is this photo taken at Thirunelli - Tholpetty junction?

[Satshan]

Nice trip log Shashi. Good to see some pictures from Kerala. I originally belong to Thane so it was more interesting for me read through your travelogue.

How was the overall driving experience since the distance was quite long. (fatigue factor, Manza's highway manners and overall mileage). I will be planning to visit some nice destinations in Kerala sometime later this year from Bangalore in my Ritz.

[shashi63]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Always check cold tire pressure. You drove for 1 hour and then checked your tires. Which could have been risky!

Anyways , nice pics

Hi Speedsatya, Thanks! I had cheecked tyre pressure the night before but changed and filled Nitrogen as I knew I had a long drive and with summer heats did not want to take a risk.

Originally Posted by Satshan

Nice trip log Shashi. Good to see some pictures from Kerala. I originally belong to Thane so it was more interesting for me read through your travelogue.

How was the overall driving experience since the distance was quite long. (fatigue factor, Manza's highway manners and overall mileage). I will be planning to visit some nice destinations in Kerala sometime later this year from Bangalore in my Ritz.

Hey, Thanks! The Roads were Butter smooth except for a small patch on the return after the Nagerhole Forest sanctuary.

The Manza is meant for and is a highway cruiser. She is abeauty and I am in complete awe of her and had no issues with fatigue. I ended up with an average of around 22 kms including all the city drive within kerala.

I honestly didnot look for average but the MID showed around 23.2 which i captured and put up as one of the snaps.

from Bangalore the hosur salem route is butter smooth with many places to stop and eat and one can easily drive without any issues.

[joshuthomas]

excellent trip details. Thanks for sharing the photos too
really great to see my home town sitting here in another country.. miss kerala and its bumpy roads too..

[ghodlur]

Shashi,

Great travelogue and nice pictures. Its good to see that you took proper breaks during the entire journey. You got an fantastic mileage of 20+ in a sedan which is great.

One ques though - Why do some of photos have an old date? Is is that you couldnt set the dates on the camera? Mind sharing the accomodation details too?

[madhu33]

Hi Sashi

Great travelogue.
Fuel Econ of22 is stupendous.
I cannot ever get a figure of >20 on My Manza's MID.
I know it depends on your driving style but still....
(BTW i am sure there is noting wrong with my Manza though).

[Napo]

Great drive Shashi ! It think i had wrong notions about the car.Thought it would be more strenuous to go for long drives in Manza.

Originally Posted by shashi63

Day 1 - Mumbai - Tumkur
Day - 2 - Tumkur - Trissur
.

Any reasons why you didn't opt for NH-17 ?

[shashi63]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Shashi,

Great travelogue and nice pictures. Its good to see that you took proper breaks during the entire journey. You got an fantastic mileage of 20+ in a sedan which is great.

One ques though - Why do some of photos have an old date? Is is that you couldnt set the dates on the camera? Mind sharing the accomodation details too?

The camera was handled by my little one and when the battery had to be changed he just did not set the dates again that's all.

Stayed at Naveen Regency Tumkur - Rs.2700/- for the room.

Stayed at my relatives (uncle's place ) at kerala

Stayed at Himagiri Homes , Thirunelly ( Rs.1650/- ) for the room.

Stayed at the Taj Lakeside Gateway Hubli ( Rs.5410/-) including our dinner - I get a special rate due to Taj Membership

Should you need any other details.. Happy to provide.

Originally Posted by madhu33

Hi Sashi

Great travelogue.
Fuel Econ of22 is stupendous.
I cannot ever get a figure of >20 on My Manza's MID.
I know it depends on your driving style but still....
(BTW i am sure there is noting wrong with my Manza though).

@madhu33 - My Manza has always provided averages which have always surprised me. Its a stupendous car and in my persoanl opinion the best that's available in its class in India. A real pleasure to drive. As far as driving style I use a mix of hard ( floor the accelerator ) to cruise mode when i drove at stretch at around 80 - 100 speeds and i also speak to my black beauty and she responds is what i feel

I am sure that your Manza can also provide these figures.

Thanks for the positive response.

Originally Posted by Napo

Great drive Shashi ! It think i had wrong notions about the car.Thought it would be more strenuous to go for long drives in Manza.



Any reasons why you didn't opt for NH-17 ?

Hey Napo,

Thanks! No specific reasons but i had gone to Mookambika last year and found the roads to be terrible at many stretches so decided to do this route.

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[shashi63]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Hi Shashi, nice pics. thanks for sharing. Where did you take pictures of elephants bathing? Also, is this photo taken at Thirunelli - Tholpetty junction?

Sorry - did not see your question earlier.

The pictures of the elephants bathing was taken at the nagarhole forest sanctuary.

Infact met a bhpian at this place but he did not seem to be interested in responding when i introduced myself so dropped my interaction. Met a couple of Bhpian's on route. the white skoda which was being washed at vaikundam was of satya from chennai and then we followed a Bhpian ( toyota etios) from banawara to the shimoga turn off.

I still have to learn how to tag the photos so havent done it but the snap with the Vodafone billboard is the famous unniappam kada at the junction where you take left for Thirunelly.

[motomaverick]

Great trip, nice and crisp travelog. It has been a long time we travelled on our Manza after last years India trip, but I guess this will never get completed as the white whale is for sale now.

I have enjoyed the high speed cruising ability of the car, yes its a tad bouncy but with load it stays planted. Plus after the remap its even more fun chasing or getting away from other cars on the highway. Have fun with the club class.

[madhu33]

Originally Posted by shashi63

@madhu33 - My Manza has always provided averages which have always surprised me. Its a stupendous car and in my persoanl opinion the best that's available in its class in India. A real pleasure to drive. As far as driving style I use a mix of hard ( floor the accelerator ) to cruise mode when i drove at stretch at around 80 - 100 speeds and i also speak to my black beauty and she responds is what i feel
I am sure that your Manza can also provide these figures.
Thanks for the positive response.

I am a bit skeptical on achieving those mileage figures ever on my Manza.
may be , a consistent 80-100kmph cruising on a very early morning highway drive can see that happening.
It would be really very interesting to catch up with you soon somewhere near Mumbai or thane. I would be keen to understand the improvements in suspensions of the club class.

Also your black club class looks FAB. I can see it being better built in terms of panel gaps etc.
It really needs the alloy wheels badly.

I too was planning a trip to Goa in My Manza but somehow the plan had to shelved at the last moment.

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Great trip, nice and crisp travelog. It has been a long time we travelled on our Manza after last years India trip, but I guess this will never get completed as the white whale is for sale now.
I have enjoyed the high speed cruising ability of the car, yes its a tad bouncy but with load it stays planted. Plus after the remap its even more fun chasing or getting away from other cars on the highway. Have fun with the club class.

WHAT ?Why ? Any problems?
I saw on some other thread your interest in an Grand i10 AT but never imagined that it was at the cost of the white whale.Sad.
Any specific reason ?

Also i cant connect to your comment on the manza being a tad bouncy on highway when not loaded.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by madhu33

WHAT ?Why ? Any problems?
I saw on some other thread your interest in an Grand i10 AT but never imagined that it was at the cost of the white whale.Sad.
Any specific reason ?

Also i cant connect to your comment on the manza being a tad bouncy on highway when not loaded.

Yeah well its true, not because of any problem the car is still great, but lets not discuss technicalities on Shashi's thread.

Yes, if the boot is not loaded any highway undulations above triple digit speeds does make it bouncy also it comes out of shape if taking fast corners, for me it might be because of the spacers.

[Gannu_1]

Shashi Sir, thank you for this thread. I am intending to take up a trip down south (to Palakkad to be precise) during September this year and looks like the route you had taken up is the most appropriate one. Even Google Maps say so.

Surat-Pune-Satara-Kolhapur-Hubli-Tumkur-Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-Erode-Palakkad.

The other day, I drove till Karad and that's like one-third the total distance from Surat to Palakkad. We started at 5:30 AM from Surat and reached Karad around 4 PM with 3 stopovers. Maybe if we start a bit earlier, say 4'ish and reduce the number of stopovers, perhaps I can reach Hubli and stay at a hotel overnight before we depart for Palakkad the next day morn?

Leaving Bombay through Thane during the rush hours is the biggest pain!