[ninjatalli]

Wonderful compact thread of a compact trip.

Btw how do you find proper guides at the locations you go (@grajaa had mentioned you for his Hampi trip)? Start of this year on a bike trip to Sringeri, I now feel a guide would have been helpful to understand the wonderful temple there.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

And even the lock to the door was antique:

Btw that's not an 'antique' lock - we found the same one being used in our resort at Agonda (Goa). Seems like a moderately popular option available for such tourist stays these days

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Great thread and Pictures Dr.AD. I am amazed how clean the interior of your SX4 is.

Thank you very much audioholic! The interiors are very clean, thanks to my strict rules about not allowing food or drinks in the car. My family teases me a lot about these rules, but as a result, my cars are quite clean from inside. Jokes apart, I do full interior cleaning at 3M or other equivalent detailers about once a year. And then through the rest of the year I take general care and the cars remain in good condition from inside.

And seeing this makes me feel like keeping the SX4 for longer. It has been through numerous trips to the western ghats and swallowed the roads without sweat. Even I am sitting on the fence wrt replacing the car with a fast sedan or getting it back to complete shape and using it for a few more years.

I think SX4 is a car definitely worth of keeping for long time. It is a very underrated car for its capabilities and what it offers. I have driven this car in all sorts of bad roads over last decade, and it never required any attention other than annual routine service. Even the annual routine service is a simple and one-time affair. That is in stark contrast to the BMW's "Condition Based Servicing" (CBS) which makes me visit the BMW service center multiple times each year from regular servicing.

My suggestion to you would be to get a fast sedan for sure, but still keep the SX4 for such occasional trips where SX4 would be the right car :-)

The issue with headlight fading is due to the restoration treatment itself. The yellowing of headlight is due to the effect of UV from sunlight. Fading happens due to scratches and other age related issues. To address this when detailers sand and polish the headlight, the UV coating is lost in this process and it later accelerates yellowing. The headlight assembly AFAIK is around 2-3k a piece so can be replaced if you wish to do so.

OK I see. Thanks a lot for explaining this. This makes sense. If the new headlight assembly is that cheap, I will definitely replace it with new unit. I will check with my usual service advisor and decide.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Wonderful compact thread of a compact trip.

Thank you very much.

Btw how do you find proper guides at the locations you go (@grajaa had mentioned you for his Hampi trip)? Start of this year on a bike trip to Sringeri, I now feel a guide would have been helpful to understand the wonderful temple there.

I always make it a point to hire a guide. How I get a guide depends on location to location. In most places like Hampi, guides usually stand where the tourists typically check in first at the sightseeing points. Last time, as soon as we parked our car near Hemekuta Hill parking lot in Hampi, a guide approached us and offered his services. In my previous trip to Hampi, many guides approached us and offered their services at the entrance of the Vittala Temple. If you ask around the people at the usual points such as ticket counters or entrance gates to such monuments, they will point you to a guide standing nearby. For example, at Somanathpura temple near Mysore (my other usual visiting spot), guides usually hang out near the entry ticket counter.

In this Belur temple, as soon as we entered the temple, I started searching around for a guide. One gentleman was standing there and judging my intentions, he approached me and introduced himself to me as a guide. He was carrying official ID as a guide (I always verify this). I asked him a couple of questions to judge if he was good, and he answered those quite well. So I hired him and turned to be a good decision. He was a very good guide.

Btw that's not an 'antique' lock - we found the same one being used in our resort at Agonda (Goa). Seems like a moderately popular option available for such tourist stays these days

OK, I see. Interesting!

[megazoid]

Breezy read AD. The SX4 pics with the hills in the background look dreamy. Any time one sees roads like these, the urge to have a go is irresistible. Am sure you would have enjoyed working the gears of the SX4 on those lovely roads.
Beside the scenery and far away feel, the coffee and other local delicacies just make the whole experience unforgettable. Great way to treat your folks this Diwali!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by megazoid

Breezy read AD. The SX4 pics with the hills in the background look dreamy. Any time one sees roads like these, the urge to have a go is irresistible. Am sure you would have enjoyed working the gears of the SX4 on those lovely roads.
Beside the scenery and far away feel, the coffee and other local delicacies just make the whole experience unforgettable. Great way to treat your folks this Diwali!

Thank you very much megazoid.

Yes, working the gears of SX4 through those hilly roads was a lot of fun. Thankfully, SX4 has smooth and precise gearshifts, and it is a joy to work that gearbox. That 1.6 NA engine has very poor low end. That means one has to keep it constantly in the mid to high RPM range to extract any power from that. And that requires a lot of work on the gearbox to keep the engine on the boil as one takes the corners in the ghats, accelerates away after the corner, slows down for some pothole, again speeds up to enjoy some small straight line section only to reach the next corner. And then repeats the process. Lot of gear changes and lot of fun.

It gets absolutely boring to drive the SX4 on straight highways now. Because there the main shortcoming (lack of power) is badly exposed, and there is no advantage of having the manual gearbox as well (the car is just in the 5th gear on long highway runs). But on the hilly roads where straight line power is not much of an issue, and frequent gear changes are the order of the day, SX4 can be a very engaging car to drive. Throw in some bad roads in that and you have a perfect concoction to have fun with the SX4.

[SRM]

Lovely homestay and great to see that SX4 is still doing what it always does! Everytime I see an SX4 even today, my heart skips a beat. We had it for 7 years and unfortunately had to let it go as had started rusting in a lot of places or else would still have been with us.

Completely agree with you on SX4, it was always a car that you can take anywhere and not be worried at all about the roads. The high GC and its solid built would take care of anything that the roads throw up. My family still misses the spaciousness it offered in the rear seat and it's one of those cars which will always be remembered fondly by us. On another note, I never found it boring on the highway, you could always push it in the top gear and it was happy to gain speed. The 1.6 engine was pretty good. Maybe with BMW now, your experience might be different!

Thanks again for such a lovely post, would always want to see more travelogues with an SX4 in it. Keep taking her to places

[CliffHanger]

Excellent travelogue! Please share the camera gear used, the colours look quite natural.

I think you have mastered the art of enjoying the travel . Fine places to stay, authentic cuisines, relaxed pace, non touristy season. Hope you got a good collection of music too, adds up to the experience.

Cheers!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by SRM

Lovely homestay and great to see that SX4 is still doing what it always does! Everytime I see an SX4 even today, my heart skips a beat. We had it for 7 years and unfortunately had to let it go as had started rusting in a lot of places or else would still have been with us.

Great to meet another SX4 owner.

Thanks again for such a lovely post, would always want to see more travelogues with an SX4 in it. Keep taking her to places

Thank you very much. I am sure I will do more drives with the SX4.

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

Excellent travelogue! Please share the camera gear used, the colours look quite natural.

Thank you. Almost all of the photos are taken by my mobile camera (Samsung S20 FE 5G). This phone takes decent photos and also has a 3x telephoto lens which came handy for some shots here. I was carrying my DSLR (Nikon D3500) with me in the car. However, I was too lazy to take it out and I hardly took any photos with that. I only took 3 or 4 photos with my DSLR. All other photos were taken by my phone camera.

I think you have mastered the art of enjoying the travel . Fine places to stay, authentic cuisines, relaxed pace, non touristy season. Hope you got a good collection of music too, adds up to the experience.

Thanks again. Yes, I do have a good collection of music too :-)

[fawad0222]

Amazing Locales. I love nature and am very fond of moutains especially those which have forests or lot of tree cover. Though being from north I am biased towards Himalayas but do know that Western ghats look amazing during monsoon and thereafter. The homestay too looked very serene, green and inviting. Thanks for the lovely photographs.

[ampere]

The western ghats are one amazing to drive. Every time you go, you get a different perspective. Apart from the hills you also get a lesson on the river beds. Not to mention the beatiful ghat ranges around Kalasa/Horanadu and the fantastic Kudremukh! Awesome drive AD!

Here are some from the memories some years back. The rains/dew, flowing water and the greens always pull you in!

Nothing beats the "Bhutta" on a rainy day!






The fantastic Charmadi !

[rsk]

Nostalgia! This very morning I was reliving the memories of trips to that region couple of years ago. I did 2 trips almost back to back in the same year. The first trip was Me, wife, and kid and we didn't stop at any temples (except for Belur). It was simply enjoying the drive and nature. The monsoons were winding down and it was nature at its best.

The second trip in December was with my parents - but this time around we did a pilgrimage circuit - Horanadu, Sringeri, Kollur, Murudeshwar, Dharmasthala, Kukke, and back to Bangalore - over 4 days. The setting of these temples amidst plantations/forests is simply soothing spiritually and mentally.

I'm yearning to go back. This thread is just pushing the cause further. Thanks for sharing!

[Piyush Kanthak]

Such a Lovely thread. Can't agree more on the SX4. I too own SX4 from the past 14 years and am totally satisfied with her. Despite being a sedan, it can easily takle bad roads, it's comfortable and is rev happy.

It's a fun to drive car, I can say so because my father who is an non enthusiast loves driving it.
Attaching a small pic i took of her.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by fawad0222

Amazing Locales. I love nature and am very fond of moutains especially those which have forests or lot of tree cover. Though being from north I am biased towards Himalayas but do know that Western ghats look amazing during monsoon and thereafter. The homestay too looked very serene, green and inviting. Thanks for the lovely photographs.

Thank you. These western ghats are quite small and not that adventurous compared to Himalayas. But they do have their own charm, and they are beautiful all year around. The beauty of Himalayas if of course at another level altogether. I actually have some plans of driving around in areas near Himalayas this winter. Let us see if and how those plans work out.

Originally Posted by ampere

Here are some from the memories some years back. The rains/dew, flowing water and the greens always pull you in!

Very nice photos. Thank you for sharing. Yes, "bhutaa" is something that is great in this weather. I also agree on how fantastic Charmadi is. Not just in the monsoons, but that area is green and beautiful throughout the year. I did not drive to Charmadi this time (although I went close to that), but I have driven there a few times in the past. That is always my preferred route to drive to Udupi/Manial area from Bangalore.

Originally Posted by rsk

I'm yearning to go back. This thread is just pushing the cause further. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Piyush Kanthak

Such a Lovely thread. Can't agree more on the SX4. I too own SX4 from the past 14 years and am totally satisfied with her. Despite being a sedan, it can easily takle bad roads, it's comfortable and is rev happy.
Attaching a small pic i took of her.

Thank you! Great to meet another SX4 owner. And thank you for sharing that picture. You car looks great and looks like it is very well maintained too.

[Piyush Kanthak]

Thank you! Great to meet another SX4 owner. And thank you for sharing that picture. You car looks great and looks like it is very well maintained too.

Thank you so much sir, my car doesn't get used a lot, only 20k on the odometer

[subbaramu]

You should have had prasadam lunch at the temple kitchen. Horanadu templ serves (in fact most of the temples in DK) amazing breakfast/lunch/dinner.

In fact, another custom is to not return empty stomach from Horanadu temple.

[autocrat]

I stumbled upon this thread when I was googling for hidden temples in western ghats, oh boy! the narration is awesome! Thank you!

Originally Posted by subbaramu

You should have had prasadam lunch at the temple kitchen. Horanadu templ serves (in fact most of the temples in DK) amazing breakfast/lunch/dinner.

In fact, another custom is to not return empty stomach from Horanadu temple.

This is exactly what came to my mind. The temple prasadam lunch at Horanadu is not to be missed. May be this will result in yet another drive to this beautiful place

If you go with elders who are not comfortable with having lunch sitting on the floor, they arrange for tables and chairs. There is also a temple run lodging for stay, which is clean but basic. However, for some strange reason, they don't give rooms to single males. They however are welcome to sleep on temple premises, pillows and blankets will be provided.

Going back to read your travelogues