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-   -   Flooded Rajasthan in a "My Choice" Ciaz AT (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/212124-flooded-rajasthan-my-choice-ciaz.html)

July 2019 : We were in the Capital of India to attend a couple of family weddings and the only different part this time was that we would have had some time alone with each other without the presence of the kids as they had their school. This was the only reason why we were looking forward for this getaway.

Landed at Delhi Airport and for a change being driven to the Wedding 1 Venue # 1 i.e.- Taj Palace, New Delhi. Impressed with the middle row seating of the Innova Crysta :


We were lucky to get a suite to ourself :




A customary Selfie :


On Day 2, had some important work in Noida in the first half and then Shifted to Wedding 2 Venue # 2 i.e.- JW Marriot, Aerocity; all extreme corners of Delhi covered in the bustling city traffic. However, I was lucky that it was a weekend and the traffic was slightly thin to my comfort.

Ready to be pampered, again :






Yet another selfie :


After the typical Delhi Wedding with the free flowing forbidden ale, it was time to detox :


We had kept a couple of days extra in Delhi after getting pampered in those big fat indian weddings, however after the overdose of happy smiles, socializing and an abundance of food to relish on, it was high time to get some life back and instead of wasting time in the hustle and bustle of the city, we thought of pushing off to our native place i.e.- Rajasthan yet once again.

The Self Drive Options Available (known to me) :
Since we had flown to Delhi, we were contemplating on which car to take as our own one was resting in Kolkata :D and the available options were :

1. Zoomcar
2. Revv
3. Myles
4. My Choice (by ORIX)

Out of the lot, I have previously used the services of Zoomcar & Myles and they were pretty good. Hence, this time wanted to try either Revv or MyChoice. Moreover the rates offered by MyChoice was too luring.

Choosing the Right Car to fit our Requirement :

• Having been accustomed to some of the service providers before, I had certain resistances in opting for a MT Car. The Speed Limits on these hired cars makes it pretty boring to drive a Manual Transmission and simply kills the pleasure of driving as one is more cautious and focused on the Speedo rather than enjoying the drive. Instead, in an Automatic transmission it is that much more easier to pace your drive and not be stressed about going over the speed limit.
  
• Furthermore, considering that there is now little price difference between the per liter cost of Petrol and Diesel, a conservative Puny Petrol Automatic which delivers a good fuel efficiency was in my mind. BHPian JKDS had recently bought a Ciaz AT and told me that it may deliver a Fuel Efficiency of 20kmpl if driven sedately/ conservatively.
• Also considering the fact that Eshita (my wife) could get some hands on experience on Highway Driving (as she drives a Brio Automatic in Kolkata) the Automatic Petrol was more desirable.
  
• Another point was that any diesel turbo would have again become a more peppy engine to handle and the speed restrictions would have again killed the pleasure of driving.

It was just the two of us and we opted for a Ciaz AT which suited our requirement for the Next 34 Hours @ Rs.2675/= with a Additional Pick Up & Drop Charge of Rs.250/= per way with a Security Deposit of Rs.6,000/= which was charged to my Card and refunded in full after 7 working days of returning the car as it was returned in one piece to their luck.

We had plans to cover around 675 Kms in the next 34 Hours with an unplanned stay !!
The route mapped was Delhi - Neemrana - Sikar - Salasar - Mandawa - Jhunjhunu - Delhi

Post the Wedding Celebrations : Got the CIAZ AT delivered to our Hotel and to my surprise, it was a 2017 Ciaz with a lot of Kilometers on the ODO. But surprisingly it was in pretty good condition !!

The ODO as it read when the car was delivered to us :


The Tank was full :


I had booked the car for 09:00am but it was delivered to me at 07:45am without any extra levy on my pocket; i guess it was for their convenience. A thorough inspection of the car was done by me and they asked me to take a video of the car by walking around it. They handed me over the papers of the car and clicked a picture of mine with the car for their records. At last an autograph on their agreement and it was done.

We had our breakfast and packed off as soon as we could. It was cloudy, the weather seemed excellent for a fine day of travel. Although there is really no need of a travelogue for a 2 days trip from Delhi to Rajasthan, the best part of this trip was the extremely different weather conditions that we experienced in these couple of days which usually is a very uncommon sight for the dry state of Rajasthan. I keep frequenting to this area at least once a year, but have never seen such sights. Extremely sorry for the bad quality pictures as all the clicks have been made from the Mobile Camera.

Exiting Delhi :




See the mileage already @ 27.8kmpl :


Extremely overcast all throughout the day, with no rains :




Some bad roads :


And some good ones too :


Just about to enter Sikar and it seemed to be raining terribly at a distance :


Time for some car photography :




We set off from Sikar towards Salasar :










Clicking the MyChoice CIAZ kissing some sand (Nothing like clicking your own car) :

A Water Logged Fatehpur : As we left from Salasar towards Mandawa, we were approaching the town of Fatehpur and the weather kept on switching gears and I had nothing much to do other than just maintain my speed and enjoy Nature's Game Play at it's best. It had started to rain heavily and there were sand storms in places where rain was absent. I would let the pictures do the talking :















A Water Logged Fatehpur where the locals were discouraging us to cross the city. But, we did not have any other option but to go ahead as I was unaware of any other route from Fatehpur to Mandawa. Sharing some pictures of a Water Logged Rajasthan :


















I was unsure of the water wading capacity of the low slung sedan having an Automatic Transmission, so I just decided to follow the truckers which cut through the water and made water wading easier for me in most of the scenarios. However the flood water gave a good underbelly wash to the Ciaz all throughout Fatehpur.

When Peacocks chased the clouds and we chased them: Right after we crossed Fatehpur and were nearing Mandawa, the weather again changed completely. It was extremely windy with no rains. However, the darker clouds were assimilating to the West and it was a sight to behold with the variation of colours. The road also was a dusty rugged track and I was enjoying dusting the highway at reasonable speeds.

The view from the highway :


Just then we crossed a plot on the highway and Eshita exclaimed "Peacocks on the road" !! :






Just as I slowed down and though of backing up, there were more peacocks on either sides of the highway and they were crossing the Highway from East to West chasing the clouds. We lost count of the number of peacocks we saw all around us on that unmanned highway. Sharing some pictures :


















It was a wonderful experience and we halted there for sometime admiring the National Bird in abundance.

An unplanned stay and we discovered a Wonderful Gem : We realized that we had no reservation for the night anywhere and immediately started scouting for an accommodation in Mandawa itself. MMT to the rescue and we found something that we wanted. HOTEL MANDAWA HERITAGE was offering various packages including meals and we got a good deal for a MAP Plan and booked it.

An ancient Shekhawati Haveli and to our disbelief it was just a replica of our Haveli in Nawalgarh. Though this one was a little more pimped up as the property had recently changed hands. On some chit chatting with the manager got to know that the real owners were from Kolkata itself who had recently sold the property to a Resident Doctor of Mandawa who had done up the place. The welcome and service level was now definitely a notch higher !!

Sharing some pictures of the Haveli :






Eshita completing the Check In process :




Some History :


Our Room :


The Sit Out Area :




We ordered for an early dinner which was served in our room and called it a night. The food was simply superb. We did not expect it to be so good and so much in quantity considering it was taken in a package. And yes, the warm gulab jamuns on a rainy night was irresistible.

No hurry as no agenda !! We woke up at ease and strolled around the Haveli enjoying the lovely morning. It seemed as if we were the only only occupants in the property apart from a few creepy crawlies which were present at various nooks and corners of the place.

A Morning Selfie :


The common area :


View from the common area on the 1st Floor :


Some blooming flowers of one of my favourite shades :


Some more selfies :




The Ciaz parked at a distance across the garden :


It was time for breakfast and we indulged in some lip smacking Puri Sabji :




The way from the restaurant to the lobby area :


The Main Building, a side click :


The best way to capture the grandeur of Rajasthan Havelis :


The bill settled, the luggage dumped, the people tipped and the Ciaz ready to roll :


Bidding a good bye to our memorable stay at Mandawa :

I was too lazy to drive or rather wanted Eshita to take the wheel from Mandawa to Jhunjhunu to boost her confidence of driving on the highways. So her maiden highway drive was this !! A short one, but none the less a start.

Eshita enjoying the drive :




Some random clicks enroute :




The first glimpse of Jhunjhunu Shri Rani Sati Dadi Mandir :


The Mandir from inside :




Now the drive from Jhunjhunu back to Delhi Airport was going to be an unadventurous one for sure and I was ordered to take the wheel.

Some some interesting stretch, but was asked to avoid it because "yeh apna gaadi nahi hai" :


Somewhere in Haryana, stopped for a quick bite :


Entering Delhi :


He had a lot of time to spare and thus decided to stop at a mall for some nick nack shopping for the kids :


Got delayed with Shopping and did not realize that a 7km stretch to the Airport would take us an hour in Delhi's peak traffic which is always unpredictable. I guess God was with us and the IA Flight got delayed by an hour which saved us the trauma of missing our flight.

Although we were an hour late from the scheduled vehicle drop time, the pick up guy was very calm and gladly waited for us to reach the airport.

Dropped the Ciaz at the Airport Departure Zone and was promptly picked up by the My Choice person :


I regretted the delay in the drop and knew that My Choice would charge us for an additional hour at the time of settlement and would deduct it from the security deposit with them. However, it was not the case and we got a full refund back after a week.

Overall experience of Renting a Self Drive Car from My Choice (by Orix) :

• Car was clean at the time of delivery
• Tank was full when the vehicle was given to us and we returned it back with the tank full
• The Ciaz AT consumed INR 2500 worth fuel for our 680Km Drive which is awesomely economical i.e.- mileage of around 20kmpl
• The AC, Music System, Wipers, Power Windows, Lights and Horn was all working fine without any glitch
• Considering the car was over 140K on the ODO, it was maintained in pretty good shape
• However it seemed that the suspension would require some attention soon
• Their backend team is very responsive and organized and is extremely approachable on one to one basis and is not only routed through the call centre for anything and everything. This works well for me !

As I finish penning down my travelogue, Kolkata has itself witnessed an enormous downpour today resulting in the entire city being water logged. It also flashes on News Channels right now that Jhalawar & Kota (in Rajasthan) are submerged in flood waters and that too the towns are under 5-6 Feet of water which has caused threat to life and livelihood. I guess what we saw was a teaser to the massive rainfall that Rajasthan has started to receive in the last few years and that experienced the good part and escaped the bad part.

Drive Safe in the Monsoons :)

A perfect thread on how to pamper oneself with luxury stays and spend quality time with the better-half. A holiday like this is much needed in today's date!

Going for a driving holiday with hectic schedules on a tough terrain has its own charm, whereas a holiday like this is also very essential & has its own feel. :thumbs up

Makes me happy to see a 140k+ km run Ciaz, that too a rental, working flawlessly. Mine, a diesel Ciaz is at 93k and still feels and runs new. In contrast my 34k km run Kwid feels old already.

Nice pictures by the way! :)

A crisp travelogue! Super pics as well mate!
Wow!! 140k on a automatic! That’s some serious running in the Indian context! My guess is it could be a self owned which has been converted to fleet vehicle.
To be honest, I don’t know how Maruti achieves the mileage part! I see my average going up after every single highway run! This on a torque converter, 4 speed auto!!

I have experience with ZoomCar only and they have two plans: with & without fuel. However i always include fuel as:

• I prefer to drive aggressively.
• I drive with AC and keep it on while waiting say for other family members to finish their shopping while i wait in car.

So it makes more sense for me if fuel expenses are covered in package. Also i remember getting refund within 12 hours of handling them over. However the interior floor of the car had some dirt which was a bummer.


Perfectly said !

It all depends on what stage of life you are in buddy ! With work expanding, children, travelling, other commitments so on and so forth, responsibilities have largely taken over the passion. Although I am glad that it has not been killed.

A person like me who loves rough terrains and hectic schedules cannot manage much time for it and this defintely was a good getaway.

Thanks ! Even I was amazed that a 140K done Maruti did not have rattles the way my 1st Generation Dzire had once it crossed 40000Kms in 2 years. Impressed with the Ciaz !

Thanks ! Honestly even I was super impressed with the mileage we got on this one. Considering our puny little Brio CVT struggles to deliver double digit figures in the Kolkata city traffic and delivers almost double of that on the highways :)

The fuel included package has limitations on kilometers. Anything more than the preset you will be charged exhorbidantly. In our case, we were doing around 700Kms in 2 days and thus the with Fuel Package would have worked out more expensive by all means. For city driving, the with fuel package works well though.

Nice travelogue! But be careful about not letting anyone else drive a self drive car other the person on whose name the car was issued. Or, may in your case it worked differently, depending on the rental agency.

Really nice pics & cool travelogue.

I'd been to Udaipur for a friends wedding last December & many local places were off-bounds for tourists since the dates clashed with the Ambani wedding. So we dashed to Eklingji, Shrinathji and a few other places around. Rajasthan is wonderful and the luxurious hotels there were not just beautiful but the service was exceptionally good.

I too had rented a Duster from MyChoize for a week. We had picked it up from Ahmedabad and the experience was just about fairly OK for the low price offered except they deducted 500 for fuel even though the tank was full on return.

Btw, the Duster wasn't fit with a speed governor & this aspect was helpful to match timelines to reach places and ensure the drive wasn't boring.

I took a state permit while entering Rajasthan with a Gujarat car and it cost approx ₹1,200/- IIRC for 4 days. Nobody asked for it anywhere, but it was precaution incase the car had any issues.

If I may answer this part, immediately after booking the MyChoize representative messages the renter over WhatsApp and asks if any co-driver would also be driving. If you confirm, you only need to forward the DL pic & ID pic of the co-driver.