[procrj]

Thanks for sharing this Dr.AD. This homestay has been on my radar for sometime now time to plan a trip to the hills once again. Roads around chikkamagaluru and sakleshpur are just awesome, especially in the monsoons. Maybe we should plan a trip to hills for only Red cars Will look amazing amidst the green coffee/tea plantations.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by procrj

Maybe we should plan a trip to hills for only Red cars Will look amazing amidst the green on coffee/tea plantations.

Now you are being a colorist! I strongly condemn that. Blue would look good in the mix as well!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by procrj

Thanks for sharing this Dr.AD. This homestay has been on my radar for sometime now time to plan a trip to the hills once again. Roads around chikkamagaluru and sakleshpur are just awesome, especially in the monsoons. Maybe we should plan a trip to hills for only Red cars Will look amazing amidst the green coffee/tea plantations.

Thank you procrj! Yes, sure, I would love to drive alongside your red tank and do some photoshoot. As it is I am already accused of favoring red cars :-)

Jokes apart, red cars on that green background is a natural contrast and a fun subject for photography.

I am sure you have explored a lot of roads in that area and your TUV has been on most of those roads. I think some of the roads there are ideal for a SUV to explore. All roads are scenic, but not all roads are easy on a sedan. There were some patches where I wished I had taken my SX4 instead.

I am now thinking about taking my SX4 out for another exploration in that area, but just that the car and the color is not at all photogenic. :-)

Originally Posted by graaja

Now you are being a colorist! I strongly condemn that. Blue would look good in the mix as well!

You know I love your Blue GT too. So your blue car is always welcome in the mix.

[deepfreak15]

Amazing pictures and lovely write up. Wonderful line up of cars too. Must have been fun on the winding roads. I know you wouldn't agree (for you its always your car) but I think I like that picture of the peacock the most!

[sgm]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

Well that's owned by my uncle. We're lucky that he let's us use it

You can work out a good deal for BHPians

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Like all of you on this forum, I do a lot of weekend drives. However, not every drive is memorable. In fact, many of these "routine" trips are forgotten soon. However, sometime, somehow, a few ingredients come together to make that drive all of a sudden very special, very memorable.

Lovely write-up and really nice clicks. Though the Covid season is making me jittery about travel, this write-up is encouraging me to take a trip to this beautiful place. It is really tempting as I haven't done any outstation for a long time.

[Ashish0485]

Thank you Dr.AD for these mesmerising pics and a comprehensive narration. Your statement where you talk about being to Chikmagalur multiple times but re-discovering it thru new landmarks, route, and accommodation is spot on. I have been there multiple times but landscapes captured via your lense looks so pleasantly different and refreshing. Cheers!

[Schneller]

This looks absolutely fun. Thank you for sharing your experience. The pictures make me want to be there. I may drive down from Delhi once I’m free.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

Amazing pictures and lovely write up. Wonderful line up of cars too. Must have been fun on the winding roads. I know you wouldn't agree (for you its always your car) but I think I like that picture of the peacock the most!

Thank you Deepak. Actually in this case I agree about liking pictures of something other than my car :-) No, not the peacock though. It was the red GTI that was the most picturesque object in this drive. It looked smashing on that green background. If there ever was a real hot hatch in India, then this must be it!

Originally Posted by sgm

Lovely write-up and really nice clicks. Though the Covid season is making me jittery about travel, this write-up is encouraging me to take a trip to this beautiful place. It is really tempting as I haven't done any outstation for a long time.

Thank you! Actually the air in the hills was so clean and crisp, and felt so pure and healthy, that I would not worry about covid there. Most of the times we were in open outdoors away from anyone else, and breathing the freshet air possible. This was actually a huge relief from being in Bangalore and worrying about covid.

But of course, it is a personal call and you need to take your own call.

Originally Posted by Ashish0485

Thank you Dr.AD for these mesmerising pics and a comprehensive narration. Your statement where you talk about being to Chikmagalur multiple times but re-discovering it thru new landmarks, route, and accommodation is spot on. I have been there multiple times but landscapes captured via your lense looks so pleasantly different and refreshing. Cheers!

Thank you Ashish! I see that you have a brand new G20 320d now. Heartiest congratulations! And welcome to the 3-series club! Hope to see you and your 3-series in one of the future drives.

Originally Posted by Schneller

This looks absolutely fun. Thank you for sharing your experience. The pictures make me want to be there. I may drive down from Delhi once I’m free.

Thank you. Yes, this place is worth a long distance road trip.

[megazoid]

It was superb driving with you AD. The weather, roads and the scenery was like a gift in these troubled times. The writing has so much energy that I fear I shall jump into the car again too soon. Lovely snaps to punctuate the narrative. One of my favorite clicks of the car.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by megazoid

It was superb driving with you AD. The weather, roads and the scenery was like a gift in these troubled times. The writing has so much energy that I fear I shall jump into the car again too soon. Lovely snaps to punctuate the narrative. One of my favorite clicks of the car.

Thank you very much, megazoid! It was great driving with you too.

It was nice to see your GTI carving corners on those lovely roads. This drive also answers a question that is often debated - do we always need SUVs or high Ground Clearance (GC) vehicles to enjoy the Indian outdoors?.

While I did wish I had a high GC vehicle on a couple of stretches, all the low GC vehicles in our convoy managed everything absolutely well. At no point we were in any real trouble whatsoever due to low GC.

What this drive shows is that you can have your cake and eat it too, provided you are careful and know where your limit is. We had all low GC cars enjoying the handling and driving pleasure in the ghats, and yet managing all the bad roads. Of course, we had to be careful. But that is a given no matter what you drive and where you drive!

[RJ2285]

The Trip

Taking inspiration from your thread doc, we planned an approx. 3000km road trip over 9 nights and 10 days. The scenic drive coupled with a longish vacation felt like we were doing an international trip

The plan was Mumbai - Mangalore - Chikmagalur - Mahabaleshwar - Mumbai.

The Journey

We left on 21st December in the afternoon after work and halted at Sayaji Hotel, Kolhapur. Thanks to my daughter's online school on 22nd December, we checked out at 11am and drove straight to Mangalore through yellapur. The roads in Karnataka are top notch. We just took one 45min halt at Ankola near yellapur exit - Indian Oil COCO to refuel and snacks at Cafe Coffee day. Our next halt was Hotel Sai Palace, Hampankatta, Mangalore. We stayed in Mangalore for 3 nights as we had to attend a family event.

I loved the roads in Karnataka, especially SH 48. The drive from Mangalore to Chikmagalur was scenic and picturesque. The X1 performed really well on the ghat sections / hairpin bends. I have driven to Coorg multiple times but I enjoyed this drive much more. We encountered some bad patches in few sections. However, despite being a FWD, the X1 handled it with aplomb.

We stayed at Vismita County. It is a beautiful property, inspired by nature, spread over 25 acres. The property is right in the midst of coffee plantations. The property is 3-year old and hence rooms are new and comfortable. Food was very good at both restaurants, Indian and Continental cuisine, respectively - Highly recommended. During the day, it was warm, however, at night, temperatures dropped significantly and we needed our sweaters / jackets to keep ourselves warm.


At Chikmagalur, the plan was to just soak in the atmosphere and not venture out too much. However, we still drove to Hirekolale Lake nearby. We loved the location and refreshed ourselves there with a glass of fresh Sugarcane juice.

After a good 3 nights spent at Chikmagalur, we were headed to Mahabaleshwar. However, the long drive would have been tiring for my 6 year old daughter, hence,we decided to halt at Fairfield by Marriott, Belgaum. The big advantage of staying there - They gave my X1 a good exterior wash with the microfibre cloth I provided them. They charged me a paltry INR 250/- for the same. After a sumptuous breakfast the next day, we headed to Mahabaleshwar, spent 3 nights there before heading home to spend New Years eve with friends.


Overall I was so engaged in the drive that I could not click many pics. However sharing few below: