[paragsachania]

Epilogue:

All good things come to an end and so does this Travelogue. Dedicating this post to my roadie friends with these candid shots and those moments when we had our best times.

And that is exactly the route we traced today!

Tallboy's very own selfie stick

Sharing something funny

Ready to pose, SRK Ishtaaile

Shut it down, Let's go boys

Everyone smile please, selfie stick at work

Hmmm, Seems like we might end up spending time at Belgaum?

My Dad actually asked me, how Happy I am in this pic & I had no answers

We walk the lonely road when the machines rest

Mighty_Lothar & paragsachania:

You don't want to know that:

Mighty_lothar with his best buddies:

While we wait near Kolhapur for the rest of them to arrive


It was wonderful journey to a wonderful location. Till we drive another time to another location, Take care and drive safe!

Thank you to all my companions who were part of this wonderful drive. It was due to "us" we did this again and we will continue to.

Rest of you all, thanks for reading.....

[SDP]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line (The "Assembly Line" Forum section). Thanks for sharing!

[arun_josie]

Let me start by saying that this is one of my best drives till date. Some awesome roads driven through Western Ghats in rains, a Ferry ride with our cars on it, awesome food all along and fun times with friends.

The Monsoon Drive 2015 was a blast and I had a whale of a time with a bunch of motorhead friends, Chasing the Rains : Group drive from Bangalore to Panchgani, So, all of us were desperately waiting for this year’s edition of the monsoon drive. A few in the group couldn’t make it to this drive due to personal commitments.

On the drive, as usual Parag took the lead to plan the route, pit-stops, room bookings (1st day) etc in advance and executed it to the dot. Obviously a big thanks to HVK for organizing this meet successfully.

What I liked about this Drive:

• The routes taken – Especially Amboli ghats, NH 66, Amba ghats with some never ending curves. I have never been on this side of MH, so the drive experience was simply awesome. Definitely these ghats were very different from the ones in South.

• Rains didn’t disappoint us especially when on those ghat roads.

• The drive along the beaches were simply superb with picturesque views.

• The ferry ride along with our cars, this was a surprise because this route was updated by HVK on the day of drive only. And our first ferry ride with our cars on it.

• The resort is situated in a scenic and peaceful location. The only sound you will hear is the sound of the waves and the ocean.
• Food was good throughout.

• Driving along with like-minded driving enthusiasts is always a pleasure.

• The time spent at the resort was super fun as well.

• During most of the driving part, the traffic was less, so we had fun driving through those curves. On some stretches, we planned to avoid traffic accordingly.

Here are a couple of videos,

Driving along with rains, curves, good roads, greenery all around, and sparse traffic, what more can you ask?! This was while going towards Ratnagiri on NH66,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFuVTbk_6Sc

And one more here on the same route,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytjw...ature=youtu.be

Regarding my Linea, I loved the way it handled the ghats during some aggressive driving and I was happy with its performance.

Some numbers,

Total Distance: 1792.5 Kms
FE: 18.7
Avg Speed: 60 Kmph
Duration: 29H and 37M

Me with my bestie,

Overall it was a wonderful trip!!!

Parag, you have made us relive our trip through this travelogue. And this makes me itch to do this circuit again. After all, one can never get enough of roads and curves, right?!
Thanks a ton for putting this wonderful travelogue.

[SmartCat]

Cars among greenery and rain is a treat for the eyes!

Originally Posted by paragsachania

[*]Stick to the left, always - Well, I am firm believer that sticking to the left lane is the safest for our roads. No wonder the whole convoy managed to follow this beautifully all through the drive. No right lane driving at all unless overtaking or other unavoidable situations:

Parag, what's with this rule?

Actually, I did try driving on the left lane instead of right lane long time back. But I found that I have to keep moving to the right lane (and back to left) because of there are a large number of slow moving vehicles (two wheelers, share taxis, light goods vehicles, trucks) on the highway.

This I found quite tiring after some time.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Parag, what's with this rule?

In simplest terms, I always use the fast lane to overtake.

Agree that we have too many slow moving vehicles around bypasses and urban sectors on the left lane and this is exactly where you need not always stick to the left.

When the path clears ahead, get back to the left lane. On dual carriageway with 3 lanes each side, I prefer to drive on the center lane.

There are a lot of threads and posts right here on the hazards of driving on the fast lane - Sudden break in the median, a stationary truck that's broken down on a right handed curve, water logging due to rains, cattle breeding right at the center of median, a cycle tire popping out to cross that road, a pedestrian stepping right in front of you from behind the bushes, the list goes on.

On the left lane, you always have additional space to react that you will almost never have when on rightmost lane.

I can go on and on with a lot of pointers but will try to search for something I had posted years before on similar lines.

And no, it's not my rule or a new rule

[Mighty_Lothar]

Yes, the much awaited travelogue. As usual, brilliant write up Parag.

What a drive it was! Ratnagiri, the birthplace of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak, one of the most stunning areas in the entire Arabian Sea coastal region. It is a land as attractive as its people simple, soft spoken, easy going and hospitable. It has green hills, deep valleys, and emerald green paddy fields and last but not the least, number of stunning beaches as well.

It had been a great pleasure driving with like-minded friends. Special thanks to Vivek Nair for all those wonderful pictures. We did not realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun. I am sure we all will cherish this fun thrilled drive for the rest of our life.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Let me start by saying that this is one of my best drives till date. Some awesome roads driven through Western Ghats in rains, a Ferry ride with our cars on it, awesome food all along and fun times with friends.

Thanks Arun and I echo your thoughts completely. This was perhaps the wettest of Monsoon drives we have had in the past few years. It didn't rain, it downpoured most of the times.

So, all of us were desperately waiting for this year’s edition of the monsoon drive. A few in the group couldn’t make it to this drive due to personal commitments.

Yes indeed. Breakfast and Dinner drives aren't that exciting even when we gobble up a few hundred kilometers quite regularly but a drive to some new location on a new road in monsoons is always exciting!

What I liked about this Drive:

You summed it up pretty well. Roads, Rains, Beaches, Cars, Ferry ride and that marvelous experience of driving solo with our own music to listen to - The engine note and the wind blowing right on your face! Nothing can come close to driving solo.

Here are a couple of videos,

Thanks for sharing these Videos. I managed to save those which were important from out drive and gladly what I have got has everything that we did as part of this drive except the Bangalore-Belgaum-Kolhapur Part.

Regarding my Linea, I loved the way it handled the ghats during some aggressive driving and I was happy with its performance.

You bet! The first experience with NH17 was in a Punto and that was when we did Mumbai - Bangalore via NH17-63-206 through the night.

After this drive, I am now thinking if I should retain the 205 Section tires for the Ertiga or replace them with 195 because the way it managed some fast corners was definitely confidence inspiring.

FE: 18.7

I simply missed about the FE part as I got carried away to write mostly about the drive!

How can we ever forget what each car delivered. I won't even talk about the Ciaz here. You just can't come close to that.

Not that we always maintained 100-110 but we did manage to do some speed runs once in a while depending on the stretches and road conditions & with all that and the fact that we drove mostly in single lane all around Konkan coast, each car in the group delivered fantastic FE.

We never give anyone a chance in our family to ask "How much did you blow on fuel alone " - We are always careful when it comes to such drives. Drive fast where you can to have some fun but settle back later too.

Originally Posted by Mighty_Lothar

one of the most stunning areas in the entire Arabian Sea coastal region.

and quite a thriving place with a lot of buzz due to the coastal connection. These coastal cities are always a beauty - Mangalore, Ratnagiri, Kochi. Of course, Mumbai is in a different league altogether.

It is a land as attractive as its people simple, soft spoken, easy going and hospitable.

+1 to that. I recall an incident at a Tea stall while I and speedsatya waited for you guys to arrive at Hathkhambha on Day 1 and we had to pay 14 INR and when we handed over 20 the stall owner returned 10 and said "give 4 bucks later".

Satya after a while returned back from his parked car with 4/- and when he gave it back to the Tea stall owner, he was baffled! He said he never expected someone to come and return 4/-. Things likes these and the conversations that we had with the Hotel owner while we had breakfast on D2 and D3 only show how humble the people are around us.

It has green hills, deep valleys, and emerald green paddy fields and last but not the least, number of stunning beaches as well.

And the best part - Chilling weather in a coastal city. Something that is very unusual isn't it? Well, we noticed apart from the cost, Ratnagiri was also surrounded by lush green vegetation that was not really far away and was hugging the coastline too.

It had been a great pleasure driving with like-minded friends. Special thanks to Vivek Nair for all those wonderful pictures.

Special thanks to Vivek again. His pictures were simply amazing that gave a totally different meaning to this travelogue.

And thanks to your friends who accompanied you - I am sure they are no smitten by the drive that they are already waiting for the next one!

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Brilliantly written mate! And extensive photographs too! The safety measures that you've articulated so explicitly needs special mention. Must have taken you quite a bit of time to put all of this together. Well done!

[Dr.AD]

Wonderful travelogue! The pictures are really awesome! You guys surely had a great time.

What a coincidence that I did almost the same drive recently too, although solo. It is interesting that we both chose to do the exact same local circuit (MS SH4) in Konkan. I vividly remember most of the places in your pictures, and your pictures just made me relive the moments! Thanks for sharing this travelogue.

By the way, how was your overall experience at Kohinoor Samudra Beach Resort near Ratnagiri? This place was on the back of my mind if I had decided to stay in Ratnagiri during my drive. Just asking for future drives.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

+1 to that. I recall an incident at a Tea stall while I and speedsatya waited for you guys to arrive at Hathkhambha on Day 1 and we had to pay 14 INR and when we handed over 20 the stall owner returned 10 and said "give 4 bucks later".

Satya after a while returned back from his parked car with 4/- and when he gave it back to the Tea stall owner, he was baffled! He said he never expected someone to come and return 4/-. Things likes these and the conversations that we had with the Hotel owner while we had breakfast on D2 and D3 only show how humble the people are around us.

+1 to that too. A couple of years ago, I was traveling somewhere near the Maharashtra-Goa border with a couple of friends, and at one tea/vadapav stall, we had some really hot vadapav and nice tea. The total bill was about Rs. 90. When I gave him a note of Rs. 100 and asked him to keep the change as tips, he was so embarrassed and just politely kept on refusing any tips. He insisted on giving me back the exact change. Very nice people!

By the way, rating your thread a well-deserved 5 star!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

The safety measures that you've articulated so explicitly needs special mention.

There was a reason to mention that even if that was redundant. Such group drives are not always speedruns or fun drives. They always need to set an example and when you return back, each of the driver should feel comfortable to happily crank and join such a drive again, in future.

One can assure that only if certain basic rules are followed to make the whole drive a safe one. After all, you don't want a stray incident/accident to ruin the drive and the reputation too. The memory of such drives is the drive itself than anything else.

Also, it so happens that driving in group often misleads the tailing traffic of your group - The emphasis here is to exercise safety as an individual rather than blindly follow "someone who you know" ahead. That is a very dangerous element as anyone can make mistakes anytime.

Must have taken you quite a bit of time to put all of this together. Well done!

Trust me when I say this. I started on Saturday night at 21:00 and finished Day 1 log by 02:30.

On Sunday I spent not more than 8 Hours to finish the rest of the part .

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

What a coincidence that I did almost the same drive recently too, although solo. It is interesting that we both chose to do the exact same local circuit (MS SH4) in Konkan. I vividly remember most of the places in your pictures, and your pictures just made me relive the moments! Thanks for sharing this travelogue.

I shared the exact thoughts as I went through your Travelogue last week Doc. Felt like it was yesterday .

By the way, how was your overall experience at Kohinoor resort near Ratnagiri? This place was on the back of my mind if I had decided to stay in Ratnagiri during my drive. Just asking for future drives.

Overall the experience was good. I will give full marks to the location - There can't be any better. Of course, we never even ventured out due to rains or experienced the beach but this one is real close to the beach. They have really got a wonderful View Tower that they call "Titanic View Point".

We stayed in a cottage with 3 Bed Rooms - The view from the Balcony was simply the best. Not sure how the rooms were but looking at the cottage I can say they wouldn't be bad at all.

Very nice people!

Coast and nice/humble people has to be something! Have always come back with such lovely experiences whenever I have driven on the western coast. Humidity and Humility go hand in hand I suppose

[hemanth.anand]

Amazing Locations, Beautiful Photos.
Basically, a nice start to a Monday morning.
All the Monday Blues washed away by the greens in the photos.
Thanks for sharing this.

72 hours from Bengaluru to Bengaluru with 30hours driving. 600Kms per day at an average of 60Kmph. That's some driving!
With you guys, I know almost all of you are well experienced with really long drives.
I also know that with like minded people, fatigue is not felt, but I want to know if there was any fatigue experienced by any member during or after the drive?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

I also know that with like minded people, fatigue is not felt, but I want to know if there was any fatigue experienced by any member during or after the drive?

Thank you Hemant. Actually none of them experienced any fatigue and that wasn't surprising at all as they were the same crowd who made it to Panchagani last year in a similar convoy.

We took regular and frequent breaks - Stretched our legs, drank loads of water. Yoy get out of your car, take few pics and have a short conversation with the group and get back inside and crank - Well, that will surely make you feel fresh, again!

Also for a fact that none us really drove fast all through the drive (except small speeds runs here and there), the fatigue levels were almost nil. A fast drive for 750 kms can induce a lot of stress no matter what you are driving as the body and mind both work a lot in such conditions.

We waited for others to join us back if they were delayed elsewhere - This always boosted the confidence and morale of the other drivers to give them a feeling of being together, always. At times we lead and few other times we swept the group.

The real best part of this whole drive is the way each one managed to stick to the timings. We never got delayed on any morning on all 3 days. That was something phenomenal and reassured the fact that everyone values and respects the importance of leaving early.

[abirnale]

Awesome trip and trip coverage Parag, Arun and Gang. Great fun.
Missed it again this time :(

While I am guessing whats that big thing coming up to your car for headlights, I must mention that you had the most memorable and beautiful drive without those non-function fogs. The timings of the drive was just perfect. Couple of weeks delayed and you would have had more troubles due to rain than fun.

Good manners on the road like parking on the left even if you wanted to go to hotel on right because it was a convoy. No doubt with infinite drives under your belt, this was a obvious thing to you. The road specifically near the climb from Amar Hotel until the climb ends is risky. The heavy vehicles keep plying in all the lanes they want and smaller vehicles and cars continuously zig-zag in this stretch. It is very much possible to bump on another car in front of you if you did not understood their speed and movement. Same is the case with cars waiting to cross to other side of the road.

Overall a very good trip and travelogue. Thanks for bringing it live for us who missed such trips.

[fusionbang]

Nice Parag, a well deserved 5 star travelogue Beautiful narration of the entire drive and it really makes me think, why I did not join this convoy. Still I got an opportunity to drive with you during Karnataka MD. It is always a nice feeling to drive in the rains through the ghats which every driver looks forward to and not to forget with all necessary cautions in place.

[NPV]

Super Travelogue, excellent eye for detail, superb pictures and you made readers like me "live" the journey with your narration and log, Thanks for sharing

Just wondering how you guys crossed the highway safely to get to the "Amar Dhaba". Is there an underpass below the highway at that junction ?