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15th November 2018, 08:21 | #1 |
BHPian | 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) The ride was our almost 2 year old 50,000km run Toyota Fortuner Sigma 4 6-speed M/T. 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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15th November 2018, 08:37 | #2 |
BHPian | 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: 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: 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 Last edited by dean5545 : 18th November 2018 at 15:17. |
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18th November 2018, 13:36 | #3 |
BHPian | 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 wasnt setup yet, we decided to goof around and take some pics. Some Random Snaps: Yours Truly: 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: Some pics enroute Ooty: Reached Bandipur: Reached Bandipur Forest Reserve around 11.30am. Saw a couple of deers thats 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 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. Its 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: 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 ladys 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 wasnt 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. 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 dont 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 its 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: 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 didnt 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 didnt 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 Club Mahindra Madikeri, Coorg: 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 Rajas 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 cant 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 Im 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: 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 didnt 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! 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 its last leg. Last edited by dean5545 : 18th November 2018 at 17:20. |
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18th November 2018, 13:58 | #4 |
BHPian | 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: 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. Random pictures: The Fortuner parked at the Lobby of Taj Yeshwantpur for the night. 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: 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: 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. 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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19th November 2018, 07:08 | #5 |
Team-BHP Support | 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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19th November 2018, 11:45 | #6 |
Senior - BHPian | 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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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. 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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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
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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19th November 2018, 21:24 | #9 |
BHPian Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Pune
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| Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner
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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19th November 2018, 21:36 | #10 | |
Distinguished - BHPian | 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:
Do you think switching over to fully synthetic engine oil could be a contributor to better FE ? | |
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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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20th November 2018, 14:16 | #12 | ||||||
BHPian | Re: A trip down south: Road-trip from Mumbai to Ooty & Coorg in a Toyota Fortuner Quote:
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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:
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Thanks Man! | ||||||
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21st November 2018, 13:15 | #13 | |
BHPian | Re: A trip down south: Roadtrip to Ooty and Coorg from Mumbai Beautifully compiled blog. Loved your style of narration. Wonderful pictures as well. Quote:
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. Last edited by ARAY : 21st November 2018 at 13:23. | |
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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 Quote:
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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30th November 2018, 14:45 | #15 | ||
BHPian | Re: A trip down south: Roadtrip to Ooty and Coorg from Mumbai Quote:
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:
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