[MobiusRocks]

A quick thought followed by jotting down options and an immediate response from all, are all the ingredients required for a group trip. And we did so right after the Wayanad group trip. This time the destination had to be a beach, a sunset beach and also close enough to Bangalore to pack the trip in a regular weekend.

After considering a few options, all of us selected Kannur as the next trip destination. Once again, the four participating cars were:
- Punto Diesel – driven by fellow team bhpian Anoop
- I20 Petrol – my car
- S-Cross Diesel – with Harsha
- Ford Fiesta 1.6 Petrol – with Avi

As planned, we gathered before nice road toll at 4:30 AM on Saturday morning. It was a chilly morning by Bangalore standards. Started towards Mysore road taking the NICE road, as usual. It was dark though, but we could still feel bit of a fog. After the smooth drive on NICE road, we took the exit towards Mysore road. Uneventfully drove for another hour to reach 1st stop, which was McDonalds on highway(right after crossing Channapatna) and reached at 6 AM. Originally planned to be a 10 min stop, it eventually became a longer one as a birthday cake surprise was arranged. We started at 6:30 AM from there, continuing towards Mysore. The next stop (breakfast stop) was going to be before Hunsur.

Continued on the highway and took cut for KRS road right after Srirangapatna. There was a bit of daylight and hence started clicking pics. Here's our caravan taking the cut from Mysore road:



It was a pretty misty and cold morning, it became much evident with the daylight coming up:


KRS road has a good green cover:


We continued our 4 car caravan on the almost deserted KRS road:



Passed through entrance to a boarding school which looked good from the main road. It was in middle of nowhere, though not sure how many students inside would have liked this fact:



We continued to drive through the lovely scenery:



Reached our breakfast stop Café County, Hunsur at 8:30 AM, and hogged on to the breakfast. We ordered mostly South Indian and food was good.

After a 45 minutes break, we continued on the journey. Here's the caravan once again (you can't see the 4th car, of course):



And that's what we do, we Live to drive :



After Hunsur, we took the road towards Gonikoppal- Virajpet. And soon started seeing beautiful green landscapes of Coorg:





The roads were smooth, with no traffic, just about perfect for the trip. Here's Punto going through the greens:



One more:


Roads were surrounded by greenery all over:


We finally reached Coorg gate restaurant at 11 AM. Stopped here for a while. It's a nice place at a nice location, just before the ghat starts.

Here's the restaurant sign, blending pretty well with the roof and background:


Cars parked at the restaurant (few ours and few not):


Took a few more pics, and then prepared ourselves for the ghat section ahead.

[MobiusRocks]

Started after a coffee break from Coorg gate towards Kannur. Ghat section started immediately, and roads got way more beautiful and curvy, surrounded by lush green cover. Could also see a few muddy patches due to landslides that had happened before. Continued with the new formation (Punto as lead car now):


And soon we reached state border, easily identified by a bridge on river. It took us about 30 mins from Coorg gate, pretty much standard time as per Google maps navigation. Here's Fiesta rolling on this narrow bridge:



Our turn now:


Continued on our way and could see that road to Kannur is being widened:


I remember it being a lot narrower when went there 2 years ago. The road is patchy right now though, but will become a 4 laner soon hopefully. But this comes at cost of destroying nature:


We reached Iritty bridge and there was a bit of traffic jam there. Traffic moved after 10 mins, clicked the pic meanwhile:


And finally on the bridge, crossing it:


Continued driving towards Mattannur – Kannur and reached Kannur at around 1 PM. All of us decided to go straight to the beach house. Started squeezing through narrow lanes of Kannur, and before it could become much of an effort, we were greeted by this scene:


We had our stay booked in Marmara beach house. It’s a small but lovely place right next to the beach. Here's a pic taken next day from the beach:


Had lunch there and then proceeded to see St. Angelo’s fort. Most of us had already seen the fort, so straightaway went to the sea view point. It was around 4:30 PM and still pretty hot, but we liked the calmness of sea.

Our group (and a few others) at the view point:


The sun was scorching, but blended well with the quiet sea even in afternoon:



We could see fishing boats as well, going on their business:


Our group from a distance (most of them):


At around 5 PM, we started back to the beach house. Reached there in 15 mins and parked all 4 cars inside. It was then time to keep phones, cameras, car keys everything in the room and enjoy the beach with sunset view. This was followed by dinner and a lot of interesting conversations. Took a pic of the 4 beauties parked at beach house before giving rest to electronics in the evening:

[MobiusRocks]

Woke up next day at 7 AM in morning and headed to beach. It was just across the road, what better it could be. Here's the beach from beach house gate:


It was a very peaceful scenery, with very less people on beach. The water was also clear:



A few people were taking morning walk as well. Here's the beach scenery in morning:


Had a walk in sand for a while, and came back to beach house, and prepared to check-out after breakfast. The next stop was going to be car watersports @ Muzhappilangad beach, Asia’s longest drive-in beach.

After checkout, followed by a drive of around 30 mins, we reached our destination. And simply couldn't resist the water, so instead started approaching it:


Started feeling the water splashes a little bit first:


Opened up the windows, and listened to the amazing sound of water splashes when this happened:


Here's Punto having some fun:


Continued driving for about a kilometre on the beach. It was an amazing experience, though we took caution not to go too deep (nobody likes a floating car ) and also not to go too fast as there were quite a few people walking on beach as well.

And then we stopped:


Stopped for the pics. What better location than this could ever be. Decided to park all 4 cars together for a pic. First one was Punto:


Yours truly aligning the I20 in parallel and still managing to get a solo shot:



And soon all 4 were together. There was water where cars were parked, hence had to rush in to take group pic. Here's the one taken by my wifey:


And another one taken by Thulasi, star performer of the office:


The men and their machines:


The car caravan deserved this shot after all effort it took in water splashes and riding on sand:


Here's some more:



It was then turn to exchange keys and have fun in water with the machines.

Started with the oldie Ford Fiesta zipping through:


Coming out of water:


Posing for a pic:


Going again, round 2:


Next in line, I20 splashing up the water:


Going past in good speed:


And an even bigger splash this time, made a few of our group members run away to save themselves from splash:


Next was the Italian beauty:


Punto going pass us:


One goes while another watches:


And finally the monster, S-cross:


A real big splash this was:


It was around 12:30 PM when we decided to leave and called for all 4 cars to gather. Left from the beach towards Kannur city.

[MobiusRocks]

Next thing on priority was to get cars cleaned, as sea water is pretty harmful for them. After a bit of research, coupled with an inquiry with a local overpriced car wash, we decided to go to “Wash world”, automatic car wash, that’s right on the highway to Kannur. Got offered a good rate as well. Lined up the cars for the wash:



Since it would take some time to get all 4 cars cleaned up, all ate up a bit, discussed on having lunch break and finalized that it was going to be Coorg gate. While these discussions were happening, wash started with Fiesta:


I20 all soaped up and ready to be washed:


And what's the final result? Sparkling clean they became, shining in the sun (cars standing at Coorg gate restaurant parking):


After car wash was done, started back at 2:30 PM towards Bangalore. Roads were amazing, and even in the afternoon heat it looked beautiful. Here's the caravan going through:


And some patchy sections on road as well:


Caravan through the lush greens:


What a stylish and photogenic car it sure is:


Next stop was for lunch at Coorg gate, which we reached in 2 hours. But before that, we enjoyed the scenic way that lead to it. Here's Punto through the ghats:


Had a sumptuous lunch at Coorg gate for around an hour and continued on the journey towards Bangalore. The next stop was at Milestone 67 on Mysore highway, which took us around 3:30 hours to reach. Had pizzas in dinner (kids and adults, both were craving for it) and started back for home at 9:30 PM.

Took a bit of time to join nice road due to traffic, after which it was a breeze to drive. Reached back home at around 11:30 PM, tired but happy and hopeful that another trip will follow soon where we'll see the cars again in action:


Travelogue ends !

[SmartCat]

Moving thread from Assembly Line to Travelogues forum. Thanks for sharing!

[anoop_lamba]

It was a memorable trip indeed. Enjoying driving in tandem with you guys. Hills may be for the next time?

Adding one more photo taken from our room's balcony. Not a very artistic shot though, but captures the essence of the trip well having the cars, beach, setting sun, coconut tree all in one shot.

[Latheesh]

Thanks for sharing! The car wash you went is just 1 KM from my home .

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Hope you guys cleaned the underbody properly - doubt the automatic car wash would have sufficed for that.

I generally avoid water crossings in my jeep/pajero - water is the worst thing for your car and sea water - NEVER do it unless it would be a matter or life and death.

Had once taken the classic on the beach and done some offroad in marshy land there and the amount of underbody rust I saw very soon (even after a thorough underbody wash), made me swear away from sea water!

[Pro-grammer]

Awesome travelogue MobiusRocks! Really enjoyed watching the beach beauties

[GeneralJazz]

Nice! I learned to drive in Muzhapilangad beach, way back in my school days! Its a 15 mins drive from my home.

[MobiusRocks]

Thank you all.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Hope you guys cleaned the underbody properly - doubt the automatic car wash would have sufficed for that.

I generally avoid water crossings in my jeep/pajero - water is the worst thing for your car and sea water - NEVER do it unless it would be a matter or life and death.

Had once taken the classic on the beach and done some offroad in marshy land there and the amount of underbody rust I saw very soon (even after a thorough underbody wash), made me swear away from sea water!

Had the underbody washed twice. Will sure keep checking for any rusting signs

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by MobiusRocks

Continued driving for about a kilometre on the beach. It was an amazing experience, though we took caution not to go too deep (nobody likes a floating car ) and also not to go too fast as there were quite a few people walking on beach as well.

It was then turn to exchange keys and have fun in water with the machines.

A real big splash this was:

Nice travelogue, MobiusRocks, except, I really need to point out just one thing: how incredibly dangerous it was to take these small cars past the surf line and into sea water. The undertow of receding waves and shifting sands can pull in a 1-tonne car ever so easily into deep water, or quicksand under the water can trap a car in a blink - leading to drowning the car as the tide comes in, especially when one is without 4wd backup, recovery gear and support vehicle.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Hope you guys cleaned the underbody properly - doubt the automatic car wash would have sufficed for that.
Had once taken the classic on the beach and done some offroad in marshy land there and the amount of underbody rust I saw very soon (even after a thorough underbody wash), made me swear away from sea water!

True that. Salt water is a car killer, especially when it comes to monocoques with their hollow channels, where sea water can accumulate and never get washed out.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Nice travelogue, MobiusRocks, except, I really need to point out just one thing: how incredibly dangerous it was to take these small cars past the surf line and into sea water. The undertow of receding waves and shifting sands can pull in a 1-tonne car ever so easily into deep water, or quicksand under the water can trap a car in a blink - leading to drowning the car as the tide comes in, especially when one is without 4wd backup, recovery gear and support vehicle.

I agree with what you've said. However, this particular beach has real packed sand, so the risk is lower. I have driven the same beach on my Ikon, and while I enjoyed it then, I realised later how stupid I was.

Read here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post2132174

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

True that. Salt water is a car killer, especially when it comes to monocoques with their hollow channels, where sea water can accumulate and never get washed out.

Agreed. As much as is possible better to avoid salt water contact with the car. Now even with a 4WD, I stay away from salt water and ensure a thorough underbody pressure wash is done, which I do myself.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

...I realised later how stupid I was.

Yeah, that's what age and continuing education do to you!

[Tygerman]

Nice travelogue ! Kannur is my hometown. I enjoyed reading it.

The ghat section you were referring to, is the north western ridge of the mighty Brahmagiri hills. The entire stretch is part of Brahmagiri wildlife sanctuary. Brahmagiri ecosystem are known for their healthy population of King Cobras.

The first ultra narrow bridge is the "Kutupuzha bridge". It's a bridge constructed by the British and commissioned in the year 1928. Not sure if you were able to see the small Thattukada (shanty shop) at Makuta before reaching the Kutupuzha bridge. That's my favourite place to eat. I would never miss the Parotta and Chicken roast from there.

Next time you should also try Kannavam Reserve forest, Paithalmala, Parasinikadavu and definitely the food at some renowned Thalassery hotel (preferably Paris or Rara avis for the famous Thalassery Biriyani).

Keep driving!