[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by //M

a few things about the City that I would like to list down:

Likes:



Dislikes:

how did you find the noise level inside the cabin ?
- engine noise
- wind noise
- tyre noise
i am specifically asking this, because i was told by an acquaintance, that the amaze has poor noise insulation regarding all of the above

[abhinav.s]

Wonderfully written TL. Epic in every sense of the word. Good pics with a point shoot too. Liked the way you have put up the likes and dislikes as well. A journey this long would give you a very good idea to judge the car on most parameters. Hooked and waiting for the remaining part!

[sayoojl]

6000+ kms in 2 weeks!!! no words mate. The car looks clean in almost all the photographs.How did you manage to keep the car clean even after doing these many kms? I am surprised! Waiting for the remaining episodes.

[anilagdr]

No question its an awesome travelogue! Kept reading it at a stretch. Those wonderful photos need to be adorned with captions so that the lesser travelled people like me can have a better insight into those places. If possible pls do it from now on.
Nice to learn that the City has a practical AC and a tolerable power delivery. Also as was asked pls state your views on the NVH levels.

[//M]

Day 7, 3rd June 2014

There was only one purpose of going to Ratnagiri. To sample the delicious alphonso mangoes. We left Hathkhamba very early and reached Ratnagiri in another 15 minutes. It was so early in the day that no mangoes were to be seen in the market areas. One kind soul told us to drive down the few kms along the sea to Pawas, where a mango farm was situated. Without wasting any further time, we drove down to Pawas, and started asking directions for that mango farm. After a few hits and misses, we found the farm and were greeted to sample the delicious alphonso mangoes. We bought a dozen of mangoes too, at a very nominal rate. We also chanced upon a bakery in Pawas, which had amazing cookies on sale. We bought a few packets and drove towards Tarkarli Beach. This road was not an ideal highway as there were narrow lanes and small villages en route that slowed down the speed, but nobody complained. The lovely environs of the small rustic Konkan villages looked straight out of landscape paintings.












We reached the Tarkarli Beach, spent a few hours there and then moved towards Goa. Tarkarli Beach was a little popular with the tourists in this region, and it had lovely cottages in shape of boats which looked lovely. Maybe a few hours don't do justice to the beauty of these places. One has to spend a day exploring the region, dive into the amazing Malvan cuisine and stay in one of those cottages to really get the taste of the place.










Once back on the highway, we clocked up the kms at a good pace.







We visited the Morjim Beach, Baga Beach and the Aguada Fort before reaching Panjim. The Morjim Beach looked spartan, without the shacks due to the onset of the monsoons.



The Fort Aguada was less crowded than expected. A friend who is working in Goa joined me in Fort Aguada and we captured some nice pics of the place using his DSLR.









The Baga Beach, as expected, was crowded. We had a delicious lunch at a very popular shack at Baga Beach and then drove towards Panjim, where we were supposed to stay at a family friend’s place near Dona Paula.







Later in the evening, we took a stroll around Dona Paula, drove down to Miramar beach and the Panjim Market for some quick shopping. While taking a stroll around Dona Paula, I chanced upon a fellow bhpian’s Ferrari FF parked at his mansion thanks to a friend who helped me with directions. Wow, she looked gorgeous in the rosso berlinetta shade. No wonder, I saw a gleaming red Ferrari in my dreams that night.



Route Taken: Hatkhamba-Ratnagiri-Pawas-Jamsande-Malvan-Tarkarli Beach-Malvan-Chowke-Kudal-Morjim Beach-Baga Beach-Panjim

Total kms done: 334 kms

Toll Tax Paid: None

[athanedar]

Very nicely written travelogue. I generally don't comment on travelogues but this one compelled me to write. Simple narration and great pictures.
The road which goes on the side of sea nearly Harne and Anjarle is really nice. I have done that once and it reminded me of the "17 mile drive" in California.
Keep on going.

[sayakc]

Arunabh,
Man you have been literally going places! Envy you. Excellent travelogue once again. Keep it up..

--
Sayak

[smsrini]

You mention that your City is a oil burner.. I had a question regarding the engine noise that was very audible on a test drive car.. does this reduce / settle down over time ?

thanks
Srinivas

[vsrivatsa]

Awesome Thread on the Legendary Drive
Are the ferries safe? I would be worried to put a new car on one of these

Looking forward for more. What is the ODO reading showing now on the City - I guess you have crossed the 10,000 mark already?

[//M]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

how did you find the noise level inside the cabin ?
- engine noise
- wind noise
- tyre noise
i am specifically asking this, because i was told by an acquaintance, that the amaze has poor noise insulation regarding all of the above

Originally Posted by anilagdr

No question its an awesome travelogue! Kept reading it at a stretch. Those wonderful photos need to be adorned with captions so that the lesser travelled people like me can have a better insight into those places. If possible pls do it from now on.
Nice to learn that the City has a practical AC and a tolerable power delivery. Also as was asked pls state your views on the NVH levels.

Originally Posted by smsrini

You mention that your City is a oil burner.. I had a question regarding the engine noise that was very audible on a test drive car.. does this reduce / settle down over time ?

thanks
Srinivas

I have always mentioned in my ownership thread that the City does sound gruff and noisy: Link

It is noisy but I have now got used to these NVH levels, having driving it for the last 6 months.

There is obvious tyre noise, more so because I am running on the stock MRF ZVTV's. I assume a fatter rubber will reduce the tyre noise to some extent and also make the ride quality better.

Originally Posted by sayoojl

6000+ kms in 2 weeks!!! no words mate. The car looks clean in almost all the photographs.How did you manage to keep the car clean even after doing these many kms? I am surprised! Waiting for the remaining episodes.

Thank You sir. The City did receive a good wash every 3rd day in this entire trip. It is difficult to keep a black car clean and shining, but my Jopasu Duster does a good work to keep dirt and dust at bay.

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Awesome Thread on the Legendary Drive
Are the ferries safe? I would be worried to put a new car on one of these

Looking forward for more. What is the ODO reading showing now on the City - I guess you have crossed the 10,000 mark already?

Are those ferries safe? I am not too sure.

But yes, I had my heart in my mouth during the first ferry crossing as any serious movement would have made the cars to crash against each other. But once we crossed on to the other side, I was relieved and the fear settled down gradually.

Moreover, that's the only way one can continue the journey through the coastal Maharashtra. Apart from this, the only alternative is to get back to the highway and reach the other side along the Western Ghats, which add up almost 70-80 km during every ferry crossing.

The ODO reading has crossed the 10000 km mark, probably around 10600 km currently.

[//M]

Day 8, 4th June 2014

We left Panjim after a sumptuous breakfast and on the way to Karwar, decided to take a detour to visit the Palolem beach and the Agonda Beach. These two lovely beaches have always been a personal favourite when it comes to the beaches of Goa.

A quick pic of the City at the beautiful Panjim Promenade was a must.



And also with the statue of Abbe Faria, the Father of Hypotism.



The Palolem Beach was quiet and calm. Due to the off-season, we did not see any kayaks or boats that usually ferry tourists to the secluded islands nearby.









The Agonda Beach, as expected, looked ethereal. We did not see a single soul in the beach apart from four of us. After a few customary photographs, we left for Karwar.







Karwar is a nice lovely town set along the sea and offers scintillating views of the Arabian Sea. We quickly stopped for a few pics at Karwar before proceeding further.





My dad wanted to visit Gokarna too, having heard stories about the Namaste Café and Paradise Beach from me. I used to frequent to Goa and Gokarna during my graduation days, so I had told my dad about the stunning and relatively less crowded beaches of Gokarna. We took a detour to Gokarna but due to limited time, we just visited the Om Beach and the Kudle Beach.

















After a lip smacking lunch at Namaste Café, we proceeded towards Udupi. We crossed Honavar, Bhatkal and I dozed off in the supreme comfort of the Honda City’s rear sofa. When I got up, I saw the sea running along the road. I instantly recognized the place. Maravanthe Beach. We quickly stopped for a few photographs. The Maravanthe Beach looked lovely as the sun started setting in to the vast Arabian Sea.











After a quick chai break, we drove down to Udupi where we planned to stop over for the night. We could have easily covered another 60 kms to Mangalore that evening, but decided to meet my cousin at Manipal the next morning so staying in Udupi was a wise decision.

Route Taken: Panjim-Margao-Cancona-Palolem Beach-Agonda Beach-Karwar-Gokarna-Om Beach-Honavar-Bhatkal-Maravanthe Beach-Kundapura-Udupi

Total Kms done: 397 kms

Toll Tax Paid: None

[avikamail]

Great travelogue though I was expecting an end-of-day viewpoint on the City's performance. In any case, I am feeling terribly envious (sorry about that) of your travel tales and just imagining the joy of your endless drives. Waiting to hear more but I am sure it takes plenty of thought to pen such a wonderful piece. Gracias!

[//M]

Originally Posted by avikamail

Great travelogue though I was expecting an end-of-day viewpoint on the City's performance. In any case, I am feeling terribly envious (sorry about that) of your travel tales and just imagining the joy of your endless drives. Waiting to hear more but I am sure it takes plenty of thought to pen such a wonderful piece. Gracias!

Thanks a lot avikamail.

Few posts back, I had enlisted the personal likes and dislikes about the City. Apart from that, I have to confess that the City i-DTEC is not a sporty saloon. It has not got the dynamics and handling of a Linea T-Jet. But then overall it proved to be a very reliable mile-muncher, very comfortable and extremely frugal too.

It may not be an enthusiast's car, but is is very much a family sedan. Huge boot to store luggage for a month long holiday, comfortable seats, zero turbo lag, easy maneuverability, a superb AC with automatic climate control and the bullet-proof Honda reliability. Overall as a family sedan, I was impressed by its abilities.

[pdma]

This definitely is getting more and more interesting.Excellent writeup //M.
Congratulations on successful completion of the trip and add me to that long list of people envying you for being able to achieve a dream which still seems to be distant for many of us.
Keep posting .

cheers,
pdma.

[Nariman]

//M.
That was surely a delightful drive u took- encompassing the smooth highways to coastal roads- sun, sea & sand. Also, the coastal drive was illuminating - not too many travelogues of that road. One more route to explore thanks to you.