[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Orange GTX

Take a bow Mr. AD !

This is one of the most comprehensive and detailed travelogue I have ever read. Absolutely fantastic write up and beautiful photographs. I could literally feel the rain drops and the sea waves and the lush greenery.

Kudos to the efforts taken to make the Team BHPians feel the magic monsoon of Konkan, Goa and Karnataka. Thank you very much for sharing

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by MDED

WOW! Words will fall short to describe this remarkable achievement of yours. Solo drive of 2000 kms! You gotta be kidding me! As rightly said by the mods this is the mother of all travelogues and i am sure it will inspire generations to come.

Solo drive would have given you ample time to reflect on inner self and drive home the soulful experience. Rating the thread as not well deserved 5 stars, rating it as 5 stars just because it was borne to inspire.

Here's giving you a roadie salute and requesting you to share your photo alongside DUSTY (if you don't mind

Thank you very much!

I would have loved to post my picture with Dusty. However, somehow that completely slipped from my mind. I do not have a picture of myself anywhere in this drive. It never occurred to me. I was engrossed in capturing what my eyes were seeing, and I never saw myself, so no picture of myself. :-)

Besides, I am not much of a selfie person, and I did not want to bother anybody else with requests of taking my picture.

[blackwasp]

Nothing like spending a lazy Sunday reading an awesome travelogue. Rated 5 stars. This is a very good write up and I could feel that I completed this trip along with you as a co passenger. The photos and attention to detail coupled with small insights about different things you saw didn't even let me realize that I read this in one sitting.

One question, how would you rate the road conditions for a low GC hatchback ? And is the ramp to ferry very steep? It looks like that in the pictures.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

One question, how would you rate the road conditions for a low GC hatchback ? And is the ramp to ferry very steep? It looks like that in the pictures.

At the same location, the following cars managed well 2 weeks before:

Baleno (New), Ertiga, Linea, Ciaz, XUV, Laura - I was also apprehensive about this but realized that the Jaigad ferry had a design that was least worrisome for low GC cars. I have had another BHPian from Bangalore who drove on MSH4 end to end in his SX4 and I recall few places he faced issues. There are multiple ferry points on this entire MSH4.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Nothing like spending a lazy Sunday reading an awesome travelogue. Rated 5 stars. This is a very good write up and I could feel that I completed this trip along with you as a co passenger. The photos and attention to detail coupled with small insights about different things you saw didn't even let me realize that I read this in one sitting.

One question, how would you rate the road conditions for a low GC hatchback ? And is the ramp to ferry very steep? It looks like that in the pictures.

Thank you very much!

As paragsachania mentioned above, this particular ferry (at Jaigad) is absolutely fine for low GC cars. Because they can't align the ferry exactly straight with respect to the ramp, there is a small gap (about 2-3 inches maybe) between the jetty and the boarding ramp towards one end of the ramp. This should not be a problem at all. And I noticed that the ferry attendants guide the drivers to take their vehicles in/out from the side where the ramp sits flush. So this is absolutely not an issue. I did not even feel this gap when I drove the car up.

Regarding the slope, it is in fact milder than the slopes in most parking lots (typical mall parking lots have much steeper slopes than this). So that should not be a problem too.

I feel the entire route I did can be easily done in a low GC hatchback. You may mildly scrap the bottom at a few places (thankfully the SX4 did not scrap anywhere at all, thanks to the high GC), but beyond that, it should be absolutely fine.

[satan's_valet]

Excellent report Dr.AD. It took me a full couple of days to completely go through your travelogue and I must say it was well worth it. Rating the thread a very well deserved 5*.

[Sawyer]

An EPIC travellogue - you ought to write a book!

Few are able to make the most of Konkan in the rains, with its unspoilt locales and unspoilt people. You did the road less travelled and reaped the rewards. In comparison, Goa looks messed up. Except for South Goa perhaps.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I was engrossed in capturing what my eyes were seeing, and I never saw myself, so no picture of myself. :-)

Besides, I am not much of a selfie person, and I did not want to bother anybody else with requests of taking my picture.

That is a refreshingly different and welcome attitude, congratulations! Selfie capability is the downside of smart phones, IMO. Google maps are the upside.

I was planning a three day drive early September, one night in Malvan and two in Goa. Reading this thread, I will make it four days, adding a first overnight in G'Pule, getting to it from Pune via Sawarde and Abloli, and then the right turn to take the longer scenic road. Hopefully, the rains will still be around then, and make the drive very interesting in a soft top Gypsy!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by satan's_valet

Excellent report Dr.AD. It took me a full couple of days to completely go through your travelogue and I must say it was well worth it. Rating the thread a very well deserved 5*.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Sawyer

An EPIC travellogue - you ought to write a book!

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Sawyer

I was planning a three day drive early September, one night in Malvan and two in Goa. Reading this thread, I will make it four days, adding a first overnight in G'Pule, getting to it from Pune via Sawarde and Abloli, and then the right turn to take the longer scenic road. Hopefully, the rains will still be around then, and make the drive very interesting in a soft top Gypsy!

Yes, I would say add a day if required, but certainly do the SH4 drive between Ganapati Pule and Ratnagiri. That is one of the most scenic drives anywhere in this part of the country. In fact, you can take SH4 all the way from Ganapati Pule to Malvan (instead of NH66). That will be very scenic, and you will be going through several beaches as well as a couple of more forts (e.g. Vijayadurg Fort). Of course, this will be slower than taking NH66, so you can decide based on the amount of time you have for this journey. This drive should certainly be a lot of fun in a Gypsy!

From Sawarde, you can also continue on NH66 to Hathkhamba, and take NH166 to Ganapati Pule from there. That would be the main road. However, I like the idea of going through Abloli more. Abloli-Ganapati Pule is an amazing drive in itself, and it should be a lot of fun. The only unknown here is the Sawarde-Abloli section. I have not driven on that, and therefore, I have no idea how that road is. But I guess it should not be bad at all, looking at most of the roads in that area which are all very good.

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Good idea; I have done the G'Pule to Ratnagiri drive in the same car in one November, and though there is the attractions of the rains, that is unpredictable. That time I moved to nh66 from Ratnagiri on to Malvan and maybe I should change up things and do the Ratnagiri to Malvan via the coast roads, skipping G'pule to do it all in 4 days.

I think in that case (since you have already driven on SH4 between Ganapati Pule and Ratnagiri), skip Ganapati Pule and drive on SH4 between Ratnagiri and Malvan. I think that would make sense.

Originally Posted by Sawyer

But once again, nice reading about your travels. A probable advantage I have over you is that I love my seafood!

OK, so you have that one more major attraction to look forward to - seafood! I am sure it will be awesome!

[Sawyer]

Good idea; I have done the G'Pule to Ratnagiri drive in the same car in one November, and though there is the attractions of the rains, that is unpredictable. That time I moved to nh66 from Ratnagiri on to Malvan and maybe I should change up things and do the Ratnagiri to Malvan via the coast roads, skipping G'pule to do it all in 4 days.

But once again, nice reading about your travels. A probable advantage I have over you is that I love my seafood!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

That is a refreshingly different and welcome attitude, congratulations! Selfie capability is the downside of smart phones, IMO.

You said it! In fact I have driven so many times covering some beautiful locations but have always ended up not coming back with images of the scenery as well, forget selfies. Hence when I asked a friend to refer a good Digital Camera to capture my travels, he said it was definitely not meant for me .
On the other hand, I was able to pen down a travelogue from the same locations (well, almost) as this only because we were a group, 6 cars and a very good cameraman with his gear. Else this would also have ended up as just another drive with probably 10-12 pics and no selfies!!

Google maps are the upside.

Again, I completely agree - For this drive, to Konkan and the recent one to south interior Karnataka, I downloaded offline content of Ratnagiri and its surroundings (and those in Karnataka near Sakleshpur-Mudigere) only because it would still help me to assess where I was and where we can probably head to. Even with no network on MSH4 at certain locations, it worked flawlessly.

Of course, I had my MapMyIndia navigation device but the ease of using Google maps was any day better even in offline mode!

I hope your Gypsy Drive gets executed soon - With rains receding now the next one month is still going to be a good time here I would day.

And count me in for the Sea food - An almost end to breeding season it was while we were there, we started with Sea food at Sawantwadi and relished it at the hotel we stayed at Ratnagiri on Day 1 too .

[Sawyer]

As to the rains, my drive is planned just after the Ganesh festival starts on Sep 5 or so; my experience is that one can count on the rains to always make their presence felt at that time, and hopefully they will this time as well. Seafood availability also should be better because by that time the sea is calm enough to permit fishing again.

[jobish]

5 on 5 for this travalogue. Absolutely stunning and enjoyed reading every bit of it. Serpriced to see so little water in Jog falls. Kudos to you and Dusty...

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

relished it at the hotel we stayed at Ratnagiri on Day 1 too .

Digressing a little from the thread, where did you stay in Ratnagiri and was it good? From all accounts, Ratnagiri isn't a very charming place in itself.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Digressing a little from the thread, where did you stay in Ratnagiri and was it good? From all accounts, Ratnagiri isn't a very charming place in itself.

We stayed at Sangam Regency on the road leading to the railway station. Now that was a place we opted to stay on Day 1 but were not at all aware of the food.

However, a close friend from this area also messaged me to visit few places for good Sea food but given the fact that none of us wanted to head out, we settled right at the restaurant attached to this hotel for dinner.

9 of us shared the same experience that the food was typically good including few from the Sea food menu. I have a Pune connection and I can closely relate to Maharashtrian and Konkani/Malvan food so my tastebuds never complained. Of course, we may have certainly missed the best places here since we never went out.

On D2, we stayed at Kohinoor Samudra Beach Resort - Food here was excellent with proper Malvan touch. No sea food as the organizers felt it wasn't the best thing to do when the fishing hasn't resumed.

I realise Ratnagiri itself is not the best one to relish Sea food, its a bustling coastal town with lot of activity and there will be a lot more places that would serve better sea food.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by jobish

5 on 5 for this travalogue. Absolutely stunning and enjoyed reading every bit of it. Serpriced to see so little water in Jog falls. Kudos to you and Dusty...

Thank you.

I was also surprised to see so little water in Jog Falls. I had seen pictures of Jog Falls in monsoon where the falls look much bigger than what I saw. Later when I came back, I looked at the pictures on the Wikipedia page more closely, and then I saw that the "Jog Falls in early monsoon" picture matches with what I saw. So maybe this was the early monsoon season or the rain this year up to July was not that much. The pictures with huge flow of water are labeled as "Jog Falls in late monsoon". I guess that might mean late August or so.

Anyways, given that the drive from Bangalore to Jog Falls is quite easy with good roads, I might make a quick trip back sometime in late August just to check out the amount of water flow again.

Although I did not see much water in the falls, my main purpose was the drive itself, and I must say the drive from Honnavar to Jog Falls is very scenic. That drive was the reward in itself!

Originally Posted by Sawyer

From all accounts, Ratnagiri isn't a very charming place in itself.

I found Ratnadurga Fort to be a very charming place in itself! The Bhagavati temple there is very peaceful with nice surroundings. If the weather is good (which was perfect when I visited), the walk across the outer wall of the fort can be a very pleasant experience. And the views on all three sides are very good too. So overall I would recommend anybody passing through Ratnagiri to take a quick detour to visit this place.