[earthian]

Very well written with very good photographs. Thank you very much for documenting the travel so meticulously. Congratulations on completing this meandering trip.

[Tharian@KP]

Amazing travelogue! Never thought that a travelogue can be narrated so beautifully. I was glued and read each and every word written. It almost made me to experience that I was there visiting the places. Definitely, a five star rating!

Now it made me to do a trip through those scenic routes and enjoy the lush greenery.

Thanks for sharing your experience and wish you to do many more trips.

[haria]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." - Lao Tzu (Ancient Chinese Philosopher)

This is my favorite travel quote, and every now and then, an urge comes from within to travel aimlessly, with no fixed plans, without being intent on arriving. This is a story of one such aimless wandering.

Brilliant, Dr.AD - Simply Brilliant.

Multiple things comes to my mind when I say brilliant

Brilliant in terms of the relaxed /unhurried duration of the trip
Brilliant in the simplicity - No undue planning and plotting and highly flexible
Brilliant in execution, overcoming hurdles - If you had stopped at your first hurdle, you would have missed this wonderful experience
Brilliant travelogue - the sequence, writing with just enough pictures!

and last but NOT the least,
Brilliant conditions, mother nature at HER BEST and you could enjoy the solitude and the absence of crowds! You are LUCKY!

Take a bow, Doc, Simply Awesome! Rating this 5 Stars


I hope I get the inspiration to do something like this! Not sure whether I can plan such a long travel and alone, but would like to do a mini version of this. I am a veggie and was glad to see that this circuit has pure veggie options. Also, if you don't mind sharing, what was the total cost of this wonderful holiday ?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by earthian

Very well written with very good photographs. Thank you very much for documenting the travel so meticulously. Congratulations on completing this meandering trip.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Tharian@KP

Amazing travelogue! Never thought that a travelogue can be narrated so beautifully. I was glued and read each and every word written. It almost made me to experience that I was there visiting the places. Definitely, a five star rating!

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by haria

Brilliant, Dr.AD - Simply Brilliant.

Take a bow, Doc, Simply Awesome! Rating this 5 Stars

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by haria

I hope I get the inspiration to do something like this! Not sure whether I can plan such a long travel and alone, but would like to do a mini version of this.

That would be awesome! If my travelogue inspires anybody to do their own drives, I would be most happy.

Thanks again to all of you for such kind and encouraging words. As many of you pointed out, it took me a lot of time and effort in putting this together. However, reading your comments, I feel every bit of that effort was totally worth it. When I get appreciation from my fellow petrolheads, that is the biggest reward! Thank you!

Originally Posted by haria

I am a veggie and was glad to see that this circuit has pure veggie options.

Oh, absolutely. In fact, in most of the Konkan (and of course, in most of the Maharashtra) you get great vegetarian food. So being a vegetarian is not a problem at all. However, the southern part of Konkan - Malvan area to be specific - is well known for its seafood with that Malvani masala. This area can be a heaven for seafood lovers. Again, its not that you don't get vegetarian food here, but its just that the seafood is most common and known here.

Originally Posted by haria

Also, if you don't mind sharing, what was the total cost of this wonderful holiday ?

I enjoy keeping track of twists and turns on the road, and the scenic views, but its exactly opposite about keeping track of finances! So I did not keep a detailed account. However, since you asked, here is a rough calculation:

The major costs were the hotels and fuel (by the way, I got great off-season rates in the most of the hotels). The total hotel cost came to around Rs. 17.5k (for six nights). And the total fuel cost came to around Rs. 11k. I ate mostly local food at small restaurants (apart from a couple of expensive dinners at Sayaji and Holiday Inn- the only two 5-star places I stayed at; the rest were mid-range places), which was pretty cheap. So let's say the total of the food cost was Rs. 2k. And then the road tolls etc. (the Konkan drive had no tolls anywhere; but on the first and the last day I drove on toll roads) would add up to about Rs. 1k. So roughly speaking, the total came to about Rs. 31.5k. Let's round it to 32k.

I would say this was the best 32k I ever spent. Lifetimes of pleasant memories in return!

Now that we are talking about costs anyway, I would like to add this detail about fuel economy. Dusty is a little bit of a fuel guzzler (which I am fine with), and usually I get about 12km/l or even lesser on highway drives. In the ghats I get much lesser. However, in this drive, which had its fair share of ghat roads, I still got 12.5km/l overall, thanks to my relaxed driving. In particular, in the last stretch (Day 7), I got the 15km/l , which is the highest I ever got in six years of ownership experience!

[gauravdgr8]

A Superb travelogue. Makes me want to drive all the way from Chandigarh - Konkan.

An apt season to visit the region and enjoy the rains

[kkg]

One of the best travelouges I have read on the forum.For people like me who stay in Northern part of India, we can just dream of such beautiful roads alongside the sea and such greenery in the rain. I AM JEALOUS.

BTW, you took a whole lots of pics and had narration for each of them,how do you remember everything or do you make notes after every pic? You could have completed the trip in 5 days easily if you had not determined to write such beautiful writeup for people like me.

Thanks.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

, skip Ganapati Pule and drive on SH4 between Ratnagiri and Malvan. I think that would make sense.

I am thinking even further down: Malvan to places down south - Vengurla/Shiroda. That will allow me to do yet another interesting drive in the rains, down to Konkan from Belgaum using the Tilari Ghat. Another road less travelled.

And a link to an old thread of mine that may be of interest to you/others:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post4033037

[vivek95]

Another splendid MH/KA/Goa travelogue. It's monsoons and it's pouring Western ghat travelogues in the forum. Lovely narration, beautiful pics and a superb driving circuit for solo. Take a bow Doc from a fellow young doc. Absolutely endorse each and everything that you have said here. Great to see the Nivali-Ganpatipule road being done up, it was under construction when I last visited in Dec 2015 while doing the same circuit except that start and end was Belgaum and it was a one day ride. Also glad to see all roads holding up good despite incessant record rains that have occurred in this region this year. I had updated about Kolhapur floods in the forum elsewhere before your journey began. Yeah, the Sayaji at Kolhapur is first 5 star in the city, that has opened about 10 months ago along with the adjacent DYP city mall. I too have been fanatic about Amba ghat ever since I did NH204 ( now 166 ) Kolhapur--Ratnagiri. Was a regular till Panhala/Paijarwadi temple all these years but never knew the road beyond is soo blissful. Good to see the road has not gone bad in the rains. Hats off to your determination to cross all hurdles and complete the circuit. Once again, superb presentation !

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by gauravdgr8

A Superb travelogue. Makes me want to drive all the way from Chandigarh - Konkan.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by kkg

One of the best travelouges I have read on the forum.For people like me who stay in Northern part of India, we can just dream of such beautiful roads alongside the sea and such greenery in the rain. I AM JEALOUS.

BTW, you took a whole lots of pics and had narration for each of them,how do you remember everything or do you make notes after every pic?

Thank you very much.

No, I did not make any notes. Actually I remember each picture and every bit of the story even now. I guess when your mind is totally engrossed into something, you remember every small detail. During this trip, my mid was totally into this drive. I had practically forgotten about the rest of the world and other matters during this time. That is one of the reasons why this trip was so refreshing - almost like a meditation - for me. And that is also the reason why I remember every turn of the road, every view I saw, every thought I had during those moments even now. I can again write the whole travelogue again just from my memory :-)

Originally Posted by Sawyer

And a link to an old thread of mine that may be of interest to you/others:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post4033037

I just saw that travelogue. It is an awesome travelogue. The pictures are just fantastic! I am looking forward to your travelogue after your planned Konkan drive.

Originally Posted by vivek95

Another splendid MH/KA/Goa travelogue. It's monsoons and it's pouring Western ghat travelogues in the forum. Lovely narration, beautiful pics and a superb driving circuit for solo. Take a bow Doc from a fellow young doc. Absolutely endorse each and everything that you have said here. Great to see the Nivali-Ganpatipule road being done up, it was under construction when I last visited in Dec 2015 while doing the same circuit except that start and end was Belgaum and it was a one day ride. Also glad to see all roads holding up good despite incessant record rains that have occurred in this region this year.

...

Good to see the road has not gone bad in the rains. Hats off to your determination to cross all hurdles and complete the circuit. Once again, superb presentation !

Thank you very much.

The roads had held up quite well against the rain. The only bad roads I encountered were the detour between NH4 and NH166 (on my way to Panhala), then between Guhagar and Abloli, and then last bad stretch was between Honnavar and Jog Falls. Everywhere else the roads were just fabulous in spite of the heavy rain. I am very impressed by the roads in Konkan in general. Most of them are very good - both in terms of scenic views and the road surface.

[luvDriving]

Superb travelogue !! Just like a travelogue should be - taking the reader into the world of the traveller, making the reader feel the open air. Thanks for sharing and I too hope to do such a drive covering the konkan coastline and into Goa someday soon.

[abhaybakshi]

Dr AD,

I am giving rating of 6 out of 5 to your travelogue.

We can be good friends because -

1. I too like to see my car from hotel window
2. I too like to travel in rainy and cloudy weather.
3. I like to go to places which are in solitude where it will be me, my car and guitar
4. I have been to Kokan at least 15 times in my Swift. I live and work in Pune so that I can afford to go on long drives !
5. I look back at my car when we stop for refreshments 3-4 times...just to check if she is "all right" !! My wife is quite jealous of course
6. I once opened the bonnet of my Swift so that even she can experience fresh and cool air on Aare Waare beach - Ganpati Pule :-) (My wife thought that engine is overheated..haha)

We are now planning a trip to Goa on 8th October in my new Honda Jazz which came home on 6th Sep. Other car will be my brother in law's VW Jetta. No doubt Jazz is not as eager as Swift on Ghat roads..but she will be good on highways. Let's see. I will try to write a travelogue here though I am quite lazy.

Cheers !
-Abhay

[arunu]

Dr.AD, top class travelogue, rated 5* as well.
Thanks for the wonderful virtual tour.

Its such a rarity to see such pristine beaches and desolated (in a good way) highways and greenery all around. I somehow detest from traveling to popular touristy locations due to the crowd. But, this thread has inspired me to take up atlesat a part of this route and enjoy simplicity of life and solitude.

Next time I visit India in June-July, I am sure of traveling to this lovely place - Ratnagiri / Ganapatipule.

Now, the most important question!!!!!!
How did you convince your wife and kids to allow you a solo trip.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by luvDriving

Superb travelogue !! Just like a travelogue should be - taking the reader into the world of the traveller, making the reader feel the open air. Thanks for sharing and I too hope to do such a drive covering the konkan coastline and into Goa someday soon.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

Dr AD,

I am giving rating of 6 out of 5 to your travelogue.

We can be good friends because -

...

We are now planning a trip to Goa on 8th October in my new Honda Jazz which came home on 6th Sep.

Thank you very much. Yes, we can surely be good friends given all the things you mentioned. I keep coming to Pune (as that is my hometown) and someday we can meet in Pune.

Wish you all the best for your Goa trip. And looking forward to your travelogue.

Originally Posted by arunu

Dr.AD, top class travelogue, rated 5* as well.


Now, the most important question!!!!!!
How did you convince your wife and kids to allow you a solo trip.

Thank you very much.

Well, my wife has always been extremely supportive of my drives. I am very thankful to my wife and my family that I don't really have to worry about them - I take their support for granted. Actually I have been doing these solo drives for a long time (but very rarely do I write a travelogue), and these drives are just a part of who I am. These are parts of my life, my personality. My family knows that very well, and they have been supporting me all the time. Of course, I enjoy taking my family on these drives too, and that is a lot of fun for sure. But given that everybody is busy with their own work and professional schedules, it is much harder to manage a family road trip. Solo drives work the best!

[Nagesh Bhatt]

My Goodness Dr AD, this travelogue takes the cherry !

I wanted to just glance through TBHP travelogues looking for clues on my impending journey very soon from Mumbai to Interior Karnataka ( coastal) in & around Goa, i happened to chance upon your trip & oh Boy, what a narration !

The pictures perfectly tell the story & your attention to detail is amazing; it's also wonderfully structured so as not to miss any point or any anecdote in such a detailed travelogue.

Kudos !!!

[dghosh80]

Dr AD, I am driving to Ganapatipule from Bangalore on this Friday night and planning to drive via Chorla ghar instead of Kolhapur route. Do you think this will be a good idea? Apart from some additional hours, I don't see any other issue but your comment or suggestion will really help me to go ahead with the route. Request you to please provide your suggestions.

And my drive to Ganapatipule is inspired by your drive and this travelogue, thank you very much.