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Old 15th November 2018, 08:21   #1
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A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

It all started with receiving a wedding invitation which was to be held in Bangalore. I was longing to go on a holiday (the last being 2 years back to Jaisalmer), we were thinking of going North (Mumbai-Jhansi-Lucknow-Agra-Udaipur-Mumbai). However we thought of making the most out of this trip down south.

Our Factory was going to shut down from 7th onwards for Diwali and the wedding reception was on the 11th November evening. So we had almost 5 days in hand for roaming around in the south. Being a Club Mahindra member I decided to check the options available with them, I got a reservation for 9th, 10th and 11th November for Club Mahindra Coorg, Madikeri. My mom and I have never visited Ooty so we thought of going to Ooty too. I checked all the routes and saw that it was feasible. So we booked a hotel in Ooty for the 8th November 2018 (Club Mahindra wasn't available due to me being a White season member)

The Itinerary was as such:
Day 1: Halt somewhere close to Ooty(I was unsure of this place till a day before leaving for the trip)
Day 2: Reach Ooty
Day 3: Leave for Coorg
Day 4: Relax at Coorg
Day 5: Leave for Bangalore
Day 6: Morning start for Mumbai

So 6 days, approx. 2800km and we were set.

We were going to be 3 of us only; mom, dad and me. We love going on roadtrips, our previous travels include Mumbai-Jaisalmer-Mumbai, Mumbai-Kerala-Mumbai, Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai in which I was the solo driver (My parents don't drive on highway)
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9103_1024.jpg

The ride was our almost 2 year old 50,000km run Toyota Fortuner Sigma 4 6-speed M/T.
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_8664_1024.jpg
Contrary to the popular opinion the fortuner lost it's number on it's way to the offroading session in flooded Mumbai Roads not during off-roading.

I got the 50,000km service done on friday, 2nd November 2018. We then got busy with Diwali work.

Last edited by dean5545 : 18th November 2018 at 16:41.
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Old 15th November 2018, 08:37   #2
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re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

D-Day minus 1
We got done with all our office work by 4.30pm and left for home. Reached home at 7.00pm and then headed out to buy some snacks and fruits. Since the Fortuner was just serviced I had nothing to look at. Transferred Rs. 5000 in my FasTag account.

Now the only confusion I had was where to take the night halt next day? I was ok with doing 15-16 hours of driving at a stretch but not more than that. I checked google maps and found out that at around 900km mark we would reach Tumkur from where we would get off the AH47 Highway. I searched for hotels in Tumkur but couldn't find a single decent option.The next option was to halt at Mysore. However google maps was showing 19 hours for Mysore that too non-stop, meaning a 6am start would let us reach Mysore only after 12 midnight. I was not comfortable driving for so much time that too on unknown state highways. Then I searched on T-bhp a bit more and found out that there was an alternate route from Bangalore via Nelamangala and every one was quite happy with it.

So it was decided that I would be taking a stop at Nelamangala for the night which is 990km but will take only 16 hours including breaks. Found a decent hotel on the highway itself just 500m from where we take a left for Ooty. Mailed them our requirement and got the confirmation(being Diwali week I didn't want to take any chances).

And so we were all set for our Road trip Down South!
I retired to bed at around 11.00pm after packing. The plan was to leave by 6.00am.


D-Day
The D-Day arrives, The day I have been longing for about 2 years!

Woke up at 4.30am, got ready and went down to load the luggage in the Fortuner. Said our prayers to keep us safe and left our home at around 6.10am.
Starting trip Odo Reading:
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9063_1024.jpg

Our first halt was at Khalapur McDonald's,near Mumbai-Pune Expressway. They have clean toilets if any one feels the need to use it. We reached Mcdonald's at around 7.30am. had breakfast and left by 8.15am.

Next stop was Sai International Hotel just before Kolhapur. This hotel has been a compulsory stop for all our road trips on the AH-47 due to it's location and of course availability of clean toilets. We reached there at around 11.45 am and grabbed a quick bite and left Sai International, wanted to tank up so halted at a petrol pump a few minutes away.
While my father asked the pump guy to do a full tank, he forgot to ask whether they accept card. I was doubtful so asked the pump guy and to our shock he said he would accept only cash. Asked him to fill only Rs.2000 worth of diesel, this meant another stop would be required for fuel before we reached Bangalore.

A special mention about the roads between Pune and Satara:
These roads were an absolute mess a few years back due to on going construction work. It was a nightmare with all the diversions in place. I am happy to note that almost 90% of the work is now complete and that stretch is now a cake walk! But the bad news is that there is now a tunnel through the Kasara ghat going uphill too meaning no ghat driving! It used to charge me up after a boring drive on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the terrible road between Pune and Satara. It does save time though. Irony is that I got stuck there for 15 minutes in a traffic jam as a truck had broke down on the ghat, so all the time saved was lost.
A pic taken enroute:
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9064_1024.jpg
Next stop was at Kamat's after Harihar at around 4.00pm for tea. I don't drink tea/coffee but my parents do and they didn't like the tea there so be advised. I then again tanked up from a near by petrol pump. This time the pump accepted card.

We didn't halt any where else and reached our hotel Holiday Palms at around 7.00pm. Being Diwali there was very little truck traffic on road which meant we did Mumbai-Bangalore(Nelamangala) i.e. 990km in 13 hours including breaks. I did think of heading to Mysore from Tumkur but then decided to stick to plan.
Parked at Hotel Holiday Palms next morning
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9069_1024.jpg

Last edited by dean5545 : 18th November 2018 at 15:17.
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Old 18th November 2018, 13:36   #3
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A trip down south: Roadtrip to Ooty and Coorg from Mumbai

Day 2:

We got up around 6.00am. We were suppose to for Ooty today. Just asked the hotel person regarding the best route to take for Ooty he too said to take the same route which I had planned.

We all got ready by 7.00am went down to have breakfast but since the buffet wasn’t setup yet, we decided to goof around and take some pics.



Some Random Snaps:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9069_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9089_1024.jpg



Yours Truly:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9090_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9100_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9103_1024.jpg



We then headed for breakfast at around 7.30am. Checked out of the hotel and left for Ooty around 8.00 am. Roads were very good. There was some parts of the roads being made between Bellur Cross and Srirangapatana, remaining parts were good.



At the time we commenced our journey from the hotel:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9123_1024.jpg



Some pics enroute Ooty:



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9126_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9127_1024.jpg



Reached Bandipur:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9129_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9131_1024.jpg



Reached Bandipur Forest Reserve around 11.30am. Saw a couple of deers that’s it. Was stopped at Madhumulai Forest for checking. The road between Mudhumalai to Ooty base is very narrow. Leaving no space for oncoming cars to pass if both the wheels of the Fortuner are on Tarmac. This meant I would have to regularly go off the road for letting oncoming traffic pass. We then reached the famous 36-Hair pin bends of Ooty. I put my car in Power mode and off I went. My parents were a bit scared so I started to drive slowly. Reached our destination for the day at around 1.00pm. We stayed at the Sterling Elk Hill Hotel, Ooty. Being holiday season the Hotels in Ooty were expensive. This hotel booking costed me 30% than the room I booked at Taj Yeshwantpur.



View from our room



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9132_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9134_1024.jpg



We then started thinking of where to go in Ooty. Decided to visit the Botanical garden, which was good but there is nothing in particular one can see. It’s just a big park, since we had no kids accompanying us we felt we should have given this place a miss. So we went back to our room and retired for the day. Next day was going to be a long day.



At the Botanical Garden:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9138_1024.jpg



Day 3:

Today we were supposed to check out of our hotel and leave for Coorg. I checked on google maps and understood that we will have to take the same route we came up to go down as well all the way till Mysore and then turn left for Coorg, Gmaps was showing 5 hours as ETA.



On our way out we decided to go to the Doddabetta Tea Factory and do some tea shopping. I checked Gmaps and it showed me only 2 km from our hotel. So of we went, following the lady’s instructions. We reached a narrow road with a broken tree trunk on one side leaving just enough space for the Fortuner to pass. Once we passed that tree to our utter dismay we found that the road had ended there. I checked gmaps again, it was showing 300m to destination, so I told my parents that we will walk the remaining 300m and park our Fortuner here. They also agreed and I turned the Fortuner doing 2 tight 3 point turns and parked it at the side of the road and headed where the gps was pointing. Just then an old uncle came towards us and asked us where we were heading? I proudly said “Doddabetta Tea Factory” the uncle was amused to see us searching for Doddabetta at the opposite end of Ooty. Luckily he was headed towards the Botanical garden so he decided to come along with us and guided us till the start of the ascent to Dodabetta, we asked him how to go to Mysore he said there is one more way from the bus stand as we come down from Doddabetta and we can take that route to avoid the 36 hairpin bends. My father was relaxed, as he wasn’t keen on taking that route again. Uncle'’s spot came we thanked him, dropped him off and headed to Doddabetta Tea factory. Without him we would have definitely skipped Doddabetta Tea Factory.



The Fortuner parked at what Gmaps thought was Doddabetta Tea Factory, you can see the tree trunk.

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9256_1024.jpg



Would recommend this place if you need to do some shopping to take items home. The factory tour is a very short one which gives very little insight in to the tea manufacturing process. However they have a 3 storey building to shop, one floor each for Tea-coffee leaves, Masala and chocolate. We bought some of each and left for Coorg. I once again rechecked gmaps and it showed 5 hours to destination. We came down to the main bus stand and then I don’t know what happened, I missed a turn I suppose and ended up on another route. Gmaps showed us a way to get on with our regular route but unfortunately there was a traffic inspector standing there who said to head straight and that route is closed. Gmaps now showed the ETA to be 7 hours 20 minutes! instead of the earlier 5 hours.



This detour turned out to be a blessing as we went through almost 300 km worth of Forest roads with greenery on both sides. We crossed the Pykara valley known for it’s Pine trees. The roads all through out were single lane roads with 2 way traffic. However the scenery was a treat. We halted around 80-100km from Pykara at a Tea factory outlet to refresh ourselves. We again headed out on the road. To our surprise we had now entered Kerala into Sultan Bathery!



Pine trees all through out:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9259_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9255_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9258_1024.jpg



Kerala is my native place, so it was a very good feeling. The idea of heading to our native home did cross our minds but we decided to stick to our plan.



The problem with this route is there are no eateries at all. So this meant we would have to skip lunch and my mother was mighty pissed at me for that! But how can you blame me? I didn’t know I was going to enter Kerala till the time we entered Kerala. We did have some biscuits, fruits and chocolates along with us but mom was still miffed about it. We reached Club Mahindra Madikeri resort at around 6.30pm.



We did almost 300km of ghat driving through dense forest. We also passed one forest reserve. The roads were good till Sultan Bathery but ahead of that till Madikeri there are plenty of potholes. So beware of it. I had gotten tired of navigating the potholes till the time I reached the resort. All this meant that I didn’t get a chance to go above 4th gear which lead to excellent fuel efficiency. By the time I reached Coorg my fuel status was showing me 13.7kmpl! I missed clicking a picture of that.



Here's a pic of the fuel gauge and trip meter on our way to Bangalore:

This includes the off roading at Mandalpatti too. 530km in 42litres which translates to 12.6kmpl

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9283_1024.jpg





Club Mahindra Madikeri, Coorg:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9261_1024.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9267_1024.jpg



This day was the highlight of the trip and the best mistake we made.



Day 4:

I had not done much research on the things to do in Coorg so just searched on google and 2 places came up, one is Raja’s Seat and the other is Mandalpatti. I read a bit more about Mandalpatti and came to know that one needs a 4x4 to go till the top! Reading this got me excited I told my parents “today we are going to Mandalpatti after breakfast.” Mandalpatti was about 45 mins from the resort and we had to be back by 12 noon as we had our massage appointment. So we went to the reception after breakfast and asked about what things can we do around Coorg. The travel desk said that we can’t go out of the Hotel today as section 144 has been imposed today due to Tipu Sultan Jayanti, last year it seems there was violence in the area so this year entire Coorg area will remain shut for 9th and 10th November. “But” ,he said “You can go to Mandalpatti(I had not yet told him we had decided to go there), if you want I will arrange a Jeep for you.” I asked him why the jeep ? To which he replied that the roads are treacherous and only a Jeep will make it, your car will be damaged.



This is the kind of stuff I’m told almost every where I go! Even in Jaisalmer we were told the same thing. “Sir people come with their Fortuners, Pajeros, Endeavours and Landcruisers and get stuck badly. It is not at all advisable”

So what I usually do in such situation is hire the local Jeep and tell them to lead us. In this way even if we get stuck we can be rescued by them (I carry a 5 ton tow rope and bow shackles all the time)



Throwback to our Jaisalmer Trip!

Fortuner doing sand dune bashing at Sam Dunes:



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-img_6574.jpg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-webp.netresizeimage.jpg



We reached the top in 20 minutes, paid the entry fees of Rs.25 each and climbed on top of the peak. The roads with the so called “4x4 only branding” are what we traverse every year in Mumbai monsoons, I felt almost any car with a good ground clearance and approach angle can easily do the route. There were little trails on the way to the top but I didn’t wander off , since my parents were super scared! ( My father is scared of heights and since he was sitting besides me all he could see was the edge of the cliff! This made him very nervous)



The view on top was breathtaking. It was like a greenery overdose. The mountains in our western region are brown in colour except for rainy season however in Ooty as well as Coorg the entire landscape was green in colour, this was really a site to behold!



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-image1.jpeg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-image2.jpeg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-image3.jpeg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-image4.jpeg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-image5.jpeg



A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-image6.png



Ater clicking some pictures we started our return journey. Put the Fortuner in 4 High, switched on Hill Descent control and took the foot off the brake and clutch pedal. We were back at the resort by 12 noon. We spent the rest of the day in the resort itself. Retired to bed by around 11.00 pm. Tommorow we head back to Bangalore. Our Road trip was now on it’s last leg.

Last edited by dean5545 : 18th November 2018 at 17:20.
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Old 18th November 2018, 13:58   #4
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re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Day 5:
Wedding day today.

My mother is a very pious person, she will not miss her Sunday mass come what may. The wedding mass was at 12 noon. We did not want to do a very early start as it was going to be long day today as well as tomorrow, so we had decided to go for 7.00am mass in Madikeri town itself which was 5 km from the resort. We would come back have breakfast and then leave for Bangalore. There was a catholic working in the resort who had informed us about the mass timings.

However our plans went for a toss when he called us at night to inform us that the 7.00 am mass was cancelled and the next mass is at 9.45am, which would be too late. My mom was sad, so I decided to check the mass timings for the church in Bangalore where the wedding mass was held. To our luck they held a 6.00pm Tamil mass, we decided to go for that. The church we went to was St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Cleaveland Town.

We left Club Mahindra Madikeri around 8.30 am and reached our hotel, Taj Yeshwantpur by 1.45 pm. We checked in, to our surprise there was a meal included in the room package so we got to have lunch as well!
We went to the room got fresh came down and had lunch.
I have previously stayed at Gateway by Taj, Nashik and Taj, Kovalam. Kerala. However Taj Yeshwantpur was way superior to them. Would rate this Hotel Property highly recommendable.

Some pics enroute:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9284_1024.jpg

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9286_1024.jpg

In the evening we went for Mass at 6.00 pm from there we went to the wedding destination. The wedding reception was just 15 mins from our Hotel. Came back from the wedding at around 11.30pm and retired for the night. Tommorow was the last day of our Roadtrip. We were heading back home.

The picture I took in the dark of the beautiful Church.
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9313_1024.jpg

Random pictures:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9323_1024.jpg

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9328_1024.jpg

The Fortuner parked at the Lobby of Taj Yeshwantpur for the night.
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9326_1024.jpg

Day 6:
I had planned to check out from the hotel and be on the road by 8.00 am, however my parents were a bit tired and they were ready by 8.30 am, we left the hotel and were on road by 8.45 am. We were 45 minutes behind schedule.

The Fortuner packed and ready to leave:
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9337_1024.jpg

The entire trip was uneventful. We reached Hubli around 1.00pm and had lunch at a restaurant named “Delhi Darbar” (I am sure it’s not part of the franchise).

A pic enroute:

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9339_1024.jpg
We reached Kolhapur Sai International hotel around 5.00pm. I freshened up a bit and left.

Faced a 20 minute traffic jam inside Pune city, reached the shell Petrol pump at the start of Mumbai-Pune expressway around 9.00pm, tanked up with shell diesel for the first time. I was feeling drowsy so took a nap of around 15-20minutes. Hit the expressway around 9.45 pm. Reached home at 00.15am.

Shell fuel seemed to have worked some magic as I got 14.2kmpl on my run from Pune to Mumbai. I didn't do any thing different. Infact I was shocked to see the numbers when I reached home.

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9342_1024.jpg

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-thumb_img_9341_1024.jpg

Thus ending our 5 days 2833km Road trip down South.
Thanks for reading, do let me know if you have any queries.

Last edited by dean5545 : 18th November 2018 at 15:14.
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Old 19th November 2018, 07:08   #5
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Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 19th November 2018, 11:45   #6
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Hi Denzil, a good informative write up.
The ideal holiday is one where you unwind with the drive and enjoy the place. I'm glad you all had a wonderful trip.
How many occasions were you using the 4 wheel drive mode?
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Old 19th November 2018, 12:26   #7
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Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Good write up, must've been exhausting to do 2.8k in 5 days, especially for your parents.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dean5545 View Post
.Being Diwali there was very little truck traffic on road which meant we did Mumbai-Bangalore(Nelamangala) i.e. 990km in 13 hours including breaks. I did think of heading to Mysore from Tumkur but then decided to stick to plan.
990 km in 13 hrs I'm guessing you would've been doing north of 140 kmph on the highway (ditto for your return journey).
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Old 19th November 2018, 18:39   #8
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Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Quote:
Originally Posted by superbad View Post



990 km in 13 hrs I'm guessing you would've been doing north of 140 kmph on the highway (ditto for your return journey).
990 KMS in 13 hours translates to an average speed of 76kmph. That's not high, infact easily achievable by cruising at 90/100 kmph. If you see his fuel economy figures, I am quite sure he has been driving efficiently and in a safe manner.
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Old 19th November 2018, 21:24   #9
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Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirbusCapt View Post
990 KMS in 13 hours translates to an average speed of 76kmph. That's not high, infact easily achievable by cruising at 90/100 kmph. If you see his fuel economy figures, I am quite sure he has been driving efficiently and in a safe manner.
Maths will tell the average speed but experience tells its impossible to maintain it considering how much traffic is there on the highway, especially the Mumbai-Bangalore stretch. You often have to slow down for other vehicles, change lanes, drive behind trucks/buses which have hogged up both lanes, be in queue for toll; thus the average speed goes down. Ergo the only way to again make up for lost time is to drive faster than the average speed.
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Old 19th November 2018, 21:36   #10
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Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Hi dean5545, Nice Travelogue.

Overall seems you had a great time, specially @ Mandalpatti

Quote:
Originally Posted by dean5545 View Post
Shell fuel seemed to have worked some magic as I got 14.2kmpl on my run from Pune to Mumbai. I didn't do any thing different. Infact I was shocked to see the numbers when I reached home.
Magical Fuel Economy numbers

Do you think switching over to fully synthetic engine oil could be a contributor to better FE ?
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Old 20th November 2018, 11:07   #11
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Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Hi Dean,

This is really informative, all details well captured

Regards,
KN
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Old 20th November 2018, 14:16   #12
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Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner

Quote:
Originally Posted by getsurya View Post
Hi Denzil, a good informative write up.
The ideal holiday is one where you unwind with the drive and enjoy the place. I'm glad you all had a wonderful trip.
How many occasions were you using the 4 wheel drive mode?
Thanks alot Get! Glad you found the travelogue informative. I had to use 4wd just once at Mandalpatti.

Quote:
Originally Posted by superbad View Post
Good write up, must've been exhausting to do 2.8k in 5 days, especially for your parents.
Thanks.
Actually we are quite used to do such road trips. The longest being Kerala-Mumbai (1500+km) in 22 hours. Although that wasn't something I would want to do again.

Quote:
990 km in 13 hrs I'm guessing you would've been doing north of 140 kmph on the highway (ditto for your return journey).
I was maintaining speeds of around 120kmph. Infact I used cruise control for the major part of the drive. Due to the day being first day of Diwali I found very little truck traffic. Also I have FasTag, which luckily worked flawlessly with security guarding the FasTag lane. This meant I didn't spend more than 15 minutes at tolls.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirbusCapt View Post
990 KMS in 13 hours translates to an average speed of 76kmph. That's not high, infact easily achievable by cruising at 90/100 kmph. If you see his fuel economy figures, I am quite sure he has been driving efficiently and in a safe manner.
Like I said I was maintaining a steady speed of 120kmph. At 120kmph in 6th gear the engine rpm is roughly 1900rpm. Which is like a sweet spot for the engine.

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Originally Posted by karan561 View Post
Hi dean5545, Nice Travelogue.

Overall seems you had a great time, specially @ Mandalpatti
Thanks Karan!

Quote:
Magical Fuel Economy numbers

Do you think switching over to fully synthetic engine oil could be a contributor to better FE ?
I don't know actually. It's been 20,000km since the switch to synthetic oil. I have done Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Mumbai too with synthetic oil. But never have I got more than 12.5kmpl. But I can assure you that the engine was not happy with mineral oil on these kinds of long drives. It felt strained by the time I reached Mumbai. Hence the switch to synthetic.

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Originally Posted by kn09 View Post
Hi Dean,

This is really informative, all details well captured

Regards,
KN
Thanks Man!
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Old 21st November 2018, 13:15   #13
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Re: A trip down south: Roadtrip to Ooty and Coorg from Mumbai

Beautifully compiled blog. Loved your style of narration. Wonderful pictures as well.
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Originally Posted by dean5545 View Post
Day 2:
To which he replied that the roads are treacherous and only a Jeep will make it, your car will be damaged.
May, 2017 , I had the same conversation with the Hotel managers. For fortuner atleast they said it would get damaged, for Duster AWD they simply said it can't make it. Few hours later we were with the duster on top soaking in the ambiance of nature. Somehow I feel even a FWD can make it to the top of the hill . The momentum is only lost on the loose gravels and road construction materials that are laying around, that's when the power split among wheels help.
Even if they finish off the road, specially the last few kilometers its going to impact their Jeep taxiing business.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, it brought back fond memories of our Ooty trip.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...uster-awd.html (Hyderabad-Ooty in a Duster AWD)

Sharing a picture which I think is from almost the same spot of your second image in the post.
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-3-before-hitting-plane-land-.jpg

Last edited by ARAY : 21st November 2018 at 13:23.
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Old 23rd November 2018, 12:56   #14
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Re: A trip down south: Roadtrip to Ooty and Coorg from Mumbai

Thanks for sharing your travel experience - some good amount of driving overall and you managed to cover a lot in addition to attending the wedding. Nice pictures there as well

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Originally Posted by dean5545 View Post
This detour turned out to be a blessing as we went through almost 300 km worth of Forest roads with greenery on both sides. We crossed the Pykara valley known for it’s Pine trees. The roads all through out were single lane roads with 2 way traffic. However the scenery was a treat. We halted around 80-100km from Pykara at a Tea factory outlet to refresh ourselves. We again headed out on the road. To our surprise we had now entered Kerala into Sultan Bathery!
I think the cop did not allow you to go downhill on the 36 hair pin bend route via Masinagudi that you'd taken onwards to reach Ooty. Hence you ended up going on the Pykara route which goes via Gudalur and again through Mudumalai forest range and reaches Gundlupet - this is the other highway route back to Gundlupet without steep ghat roads.

However, at Gudalur you missed a turn and ended up heading towards Sulthan Bathery on the Kerala side instead of Gundlupet-Mysore, but you still had a good drive to Coorg
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Old 30th November 2018, 14:45   #15
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Re: A trip down south: Roadtrip to Ooty and Coorg from Mumbai

Quote:
Originally Posted by ARAY View Post
Beautifully compiled blog. Loved your style of narration. Wonderful pictures as well.


May, 2017 , I had the same conversation with the Hotel managers. For fortuner atleast they said it would get damaged, for Duster AWD they simply said it can't make it. Few hours later we were with the duster on top soaking in the ambiance of nature. Somehow I feel even a FWD can make it to the top of the hill . The momentum is only lost on the loose gravels and road construction materials that are laying around, that's when the power split among wheels help.
Even if they finish off the road, specially the last few kilometers its going to impact their Jeep taxiing business.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, it brought back fond memories of our Ooty trip.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...uster-awd.html (Hyderabad-Ooty in a Duster AWD)

Sharing a picture which I think is from almost the same spot of your second image in the post.
Attachment 1820802
Hey,
Glad my travelogue brought back fond memories. Regarding Mandalpatti, I guess it's the fear instilled by the Jeep drivers. However I did find some exciting trails en route. Had to give it a miss due to parents not being interested.
Will definitely read your travelogue.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NPV View Post
Thanks for sharing your travel experience - some good amount of driving overall and you managed to cover a lot in addition to attending the wedding. Nice pictures there as well


I think the cop did not allow you to go downhill on the 36 hair pin bend route via Masinagudi that you'd taken onwards to reach Ooty. Hence you ended up going on the Pykara route which goes via Gudalur and again through Mudumalai forest range and reaches Gundlupet - this is the other highway route back to Gundlupet without steep ghat roads.

However, at Gudalur you missed a turn and ended up heading towards Sulthan Bathery on the Kerala side instead of Gundlupet-Mysore, but you still had a good drive to Coorg
Thanks a lot NPV. I am attaching a picture from my google timeline to give you a better idea.
A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-img_9355.jpg

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-img_9356.jpg

A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner-img_9357.jpg
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