[Aslamjaffer]

Well, this time I decided to pen this travelogue no matter what. The t-log on the Vagamon trip which I did mid-January 2017 is still pending and hopefully, I should be deciding to let it go.

So, it was a long weekend in the month of August and we greatly wanted to put the routine to rest and get off the town. The weekend extended till Tuesday and the whole of Saturday went about deciding, where should we go? It was about 10 pm; I rang a couple of friends to join the trip as a family and ended up with negative responses. Maybe the word family kept them held back and none felt excited about it. Finally, the missus and I decided to leave the town, even if no one was ready to tag along.

So, where is the roll going to be?

Since it was only 3 of us, I made it a point that the location should not exceed 3 – 4 hours of driving and we will do the Sunday night stay. We drilled down to a few options like Valparai, Bandipur, Ooty and by the time it was 30 minutes left for Sunday and no conclusion was made. Started browsing and calling for accommodations in Valparai and it was all full due to the well planners and long weekend. The spirit started going down gradually and suddenly I hear for a suggestion. A place that I have been planning for about 3 long years and did not get a chance to be there. Yes, we decided to hit The Gods Own Country once again and CHERAI it was. Now, I hear something again – ‘You should listen to me’. Yes, the suggestion was from the missus.

It was not considered finalized as I had to check for accommodation, and I knew I will be asking for a room for the same day as it was almost Sunday. Rang Cherai Beach Resort to check the availability of rooms and lucky I considered myself, as there was one non-AC room available. I was ok with the details and tariff provided by the front office and we called it a plan.

The bag dumping was all done even before we finalized the plan, so off to bed to rise early and start by 7 am.

With a usual delay of two hours, started by 9.00 am and here goes the first click for the trip.


Trip ZERO and Tank FULL -Ukkadam


Sufficient filling was done knowing the way she gulps up. Other basic checkups like oil levels, brakes, tire pressures and alignments were already done couple days back and it was just Fill to Start.


Breakfast was done in our regular restaurant at Kuniyamuthur and started by 10.15 am. Reached Cherai by 01.30 pm with an average cruising between 100 to 140 kmph and with one 5 minutes break for my son to get down and relax. Yes, that’s all he wanted and it is worth the mention that he (Aaryan, 8 years old) is such a sweet boy that he can accompany in your hours of driving without a fuss. No pictures en-route, as the Civic didn’t let me wish to take the foot off the pedal and get down for pictures.

On the state highway when it was some 20 km for Cherai


Entering Cherai by the bridge over the backwaters.


Few pics of the resort entrance.






The Civic settles down for a breather and was happy to see just a few points of dip on the fuel gauge.


I just couldn’t take my eyes off this beauty once she was parked. So, I decided to show her to you all.

Here you go. She got us to Cherai, in luxury and in style.




Entering the property was a bliss, it was all green, surrounded by backwaters and individual villas built over them. Every villa was different and there was no regret that we had to book the very basic non-AC one, it was awesome too. The check-in process was simple and we were taken to the room by a very friendly staff.


Have never experienced a coconut tree passing by the roof of my stay.




After some 15 minutes of inspection on many different things, walked up to the restaurant for lunch.


Good lunch altogether with a nice spread buffet having varieties of Tamilnadu and Kerala dishes. The lunch and dinner were not a part of the room tariff and was told that the breakfast would be complimentary.

View from our villa


Few random clicks inside the property.








A well maintained and clean swimming pool it was.














Spent quality time in the property till late afternoon and planned to hit the beach. You have to just walk out of the property gate to reach the beach.

A few clicks from the beach. Unlike most of them, this beach looked clean and tidy.




Left some footprints behind.


Post the beach walk, went for some hot sip with a snack.

Back to the room and the dinner was ready by the time. It was a good dinner too.

Went for a breezy walk in the dark inside the property. Switched to sleep mode and the day comes to an end.

[Aslamjaffer]

Day 2

Kicked out the sleep by 7 am and went out for a beach walk.

I couldn’t resist from taking pics of this beauty when I saw her in elegance.






No matter who is parked aside, to me it’s the Civic that looks stunning.


As we had planned to check out a little early, got things packed and we headed to the restaurant again for breakfast. Breakfast was good but we did miss the Puttu and Kadalai curry (a traditional Kerala dish). Was wondering how they can miss out on this.

Reference pic – Puttu and Kadalai Curry (Source – Google images)


So, we get ready for checkout after clicking loads of pictures before leaving the resort.

Enquired for places to visit nearby and heard about the ferry service from a nearby town called Vypeen till Fort Cochi. As none of us had experienced ferry service till date and since visiting Cochi was a part of the plan, decided to ferry till Cochi instead of driving. The town where the ferry service starts was about 15 km from the resort and we were excited all the way to see how that would be. Getting the Civic into a ferry boat would be just awesome. I kept the expectations high and was in a perception that it’s one car per boat.

Reached the place and had to be a part of a small queue and were waiting for the boat to arrive. The ferryboat arrives making a hole in my heart. The way vehicles were dumped into the boat was pitiful and in no time I change my mind to skip this. As the little one showed up too much interest towards crossing the river on a boat, was a little skeptical to go for it or not. Was much worried about the Civic getting hurt seeing the way bikers park their two-wheelers inside the boat.

Finally, I decided to take it up and keep the boy happy and made it a point that my car will be the last in and first out. They charge Rs.50 for one-way commute.


Got it safely parked and was worried about the two-wheelers that were ready to kiss my Civic anytime.






Reached Fort Cochi in 15 minutes and was waiting to get the car off the boat. I would not say I enjoyed the ferrying with a typical BHPian mindset.

The next plan was to visit LULU which we did after a lot of detours relying on google maps. I should say maps did not help me this time as it had been doing earlier.

Reached LULU and had to click a pic with the location as the parking was a lot.


Lunch at LULU and did an enormous amount of window shopping and left the place heading back to Coimbatore.

Destination reached by around 10.00 pm as expected, carrying loads of memories. The Civic goes back to sleep till I come up with the plan for the next roll. Yes, it’s not my everyday ride and I roam around the city in my humble M800.

Closing pics of the trip and now the readings make a lot more sense to me.




Some Fast Facts:

Steed: Honda Civic VMT
Total kms covered: 420
Calculated Avg. FE : 11.8 kmpl
Gadgets Used: Samsung A7 2016 and Samsung A5 2016
Date: 13th August 2017 and 14th August 2017
Stay: Cherai beach Resort, Cherai.

That’s all folks!

[GTO]

Many thanks for sharing!

Couldn't resist commenting after seeing your gorgeous Civic! You've done her up really well. I remember my highway drives in her with a smile . Perfect driving position, rev-happy engine & beautiful hydraulic steering - that steering is among the best I've ever experienced. Only two things I didn't like were the bouncy rear end (with backseat passengers + luggage) and the limited tank range. I've seen single digit FE on the highway, thanks to 7,100 rpm.

[srishiva]

I am pretty sure more people will comment on the your Civic Really well appointed and maintained.

Nice pictures and hope you had a great outing.

[sunny310c]

That was short, crisp travelogue. Thanks for sharing.

As for the Civic, that's one lucky car to have an owner like you. It looks absolutely gorgeous. And kudos to the dad in you to have the heart to risk one child for the happiness of another. I honestly don't know what I would do if I were in that situation.

[Shekhar2509]

Originally Posted by Aslamjaffer

I just couldn’t take my eyes off this beauty once she was parked. So, I decided to show her to you all.

Here you go. She got us to Cherai, in luxury and in style.
Attachment 1678292

Must say, you have maintained your Civic in an immaculate condition! Had a chance to get behind the wheels of a relative's Civic earlier this year; it simply feels top-notch to drive and to be in!
Seeing well-maintained cars makes us happy; after all, that's the common love we BHPians share!

Left some footprints behind.
Attachment 1678313

'Footprints on the sands of time'! Keep making beautiful memories.

Cheers!

[Aslamjaffer]

Thank you all for your appreciations on the Civic.

Originally Posted by GTO

Many thanks for sharing!

Couldn't resist commenting after seeing your gorgeous Civic!

Originally Posted by srishiva

I am pretty sure more people will comment on the your Civic Really well appointed and maintained.

Originally Posted by Shekhar2509

Must say, you have maintained your Civic in an immaculate condition!

Thank you so much for such kind words.

Originally Posted by sunny310c

That was short, crisp travelogue. Thanks for sharing.

As for the Civic, that's one lucky car to have an owner like you. It looks absolutely gorgeous. And kudos to the dad in you to have the heart to risk one child for the happiness of another. I honestly don't know what I would do if I were in that situation.

Regards,
Aslam

[majumon]

Hey that was a short and crisp trip. Must commend the way you have taken care of your civic, even after a long drive it looks as though she has just come after a wash. At one point of time this was THE best looking car in the country and I used to adore.
Even I have taken the ferry couple of times and have enjoyed the ride, have not felt the stress of bikes or cars rubbing, only we are paranoid of our cars, they do it day in and out so do not see a risk there.
Your FE seems good at 2 digits.

[mallumowgli]

Lovely little travelogue, Aslamji. Beautiful pics and of course, as everyone has commented, drool worthy pics of your civic.

I would say, don't let the Vagamon log die. Post it for our reading pleasure

[swami69]

Great travelogue in a great car.

Many people have commented on your super looking Civic and I too want to join as after all these long years I laid my hand on a VAT in Copper Bronze colour (guess the same colour as yours) I can now relate to why people praise this car so much. It is an experience in itself to drive this car. Such a beautiful engine, great interiors even today better than many cars, fantastic seating position and more. I have started taking care of it like a child.

If you could , please let me know the specs of the wheel and the tyres used.

Once again your car looks simply superb. Well done to maintain it.

Swami

[foxtrot]

@Aslamjaffer, google shows 9-10 hrs drive from Bengaluru to Cherai. Just wondering how did you make it so fast? You started at 7am reached at 1:30pm, including a breakfast stop. Bhpians what is the average time taken from Bangalore to Cherai? Planning a trip in the coming weekend hence asking

[Arjun Reddy]

Nice travelogue and a well maintained Civic. All off a sudden we don't see too many civics on the Bangalore roads. It is one amazing car.

Looks a nice resort overlooking the backwaters. The view from the room is amazing.

@ foxtrot, the travel was from Coimbatore, hence the 4 hour travel time.

[Aslamjaffer]

Thank you so much @majumon, and those are true words about the ferry service. Since it was the first time for me, I had to think over it for a while.

Originally Posted by majumon

Hey that was a short and crisp trip. Must commend the way you have taken care of your civic, even after a long drive it looks as though she has just come after a wash.

they do it day in and out so do not see a risk there.

Thanks Praveen ji! For the Vagamon log, I have lost the phone that had all the pictures of the trip, so, I will have to let it go. They were much better pics compared to the Cherai ones.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

I would say, don't let the Vagamon log die. Post it for our reading pleasure

Swami, Thanks for your comments and congratulations on your Civic. Hope you have smiling miles with the beauty.

On the wheels and tires, they are 17 inch BBS rims wrapped with 225/45/R17 ContiSportContact 3 tires.

Originally Posted by swami69

If you could , please let me know the specs of the wheel and the tyres used.

Swami

Foxtrot, Cherai is 160 kms from Coimbatore, hence covered it in 03.15 hours. From Bangalore it is 520 kms and should take around 9 to 10 hours.
Wish you have a great weekend at Cherai.

Originally Posted by foxtrot

@Aslamjaffer, google shows 9-10 hrs drive from Bengaluru to Cherai. Just wondering how did you make it so fast?

Thanks much Arjun.

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

Nice travelogue and a well maintained Civic.