[megazoid]

Fun begins when turns begin!



As a car person, we all have our idiosyncracies. I have been asked many times as to what I was doing with the car inside the apartment basement late at night by the security. Obsessing over driving footage, car pictures, stance, driving techniques and other such trivial tasks take up a substantial portion of the day.

Filling up fuel before a drive, cleaning up the car after a drive, trying to be a walter rohrl during the drive and ignoring all but praise about the car are habits that have become the bedrock of existence. Anyway, to cut a long story short, there was a drive coming up and the well oiled car OCD kicked in. Checked for non existent punctures, pulled and pushed the steering wheel to see if it would come off in a corner, poured some injector cleaner and visualized them being made squeaky clean, searched for imaginary ants in the crevices to vaccum and finally closed the sunroof tight to make sure that raindrops would not make it inside.

Now, the trouble with the place where I live is that once out on the road, the race for space begins instantly with everything else on the road, much like the pit lane to race track entry in F1. So the time to get settled in the car is very less and often I am pushed around and instantly in a dog fight even when the mind wants to take it slow and listen to the weather forecast. Anyway, iam digressing. We had to go to Mysore and to folks in Bangalore, that is like going to buy groceries at the nearest supermarket.

We were in no hurry and wanted to meander around and get to Lalith Mahal hotel by noon and therefore took a circuitous route with many stops. Some of these stops were extremely scenic while others were matter of fact stops. In the end, the drive from Bangalore to Mysore took a long time but we argued and convinced ourselves that we had a good time driving that long.





The Lalith Mahal Palace hotel was a great location for an overnight stay and we decided to do nothing but relax for the rest of the day.







Ofcourse, had lots of coffee and snacks as part of doing "nothing" and after over indulging at dinner, decided to punish myself by walking the vast land area of the hotel for an hour. Well, that did reduce the guilt and make the next day's breakfast a more deserving one.








There were few places to drive to the next day and one of them was Chamundi hills. In spite of visiting mysore countless times, we had never been to Chamundi hills and wanted to correct this statistic. Was quite taken aback by the beauty of this little hill and the drive in the morning with the rising sun delivered a stunning spectacle for the eyes.



It was a very enjoyable few hours driving up and down the hill road and also visiting the temple at the top.



The whole place was extremely clean and made me realize why Mysore was vying for top honours with Indore for the cleanest city in India tag. Saw few nice cars at the parking lot at the top and it was obvious that this little hill had something for everybody right from the god fearing citizens all the way to the car loving ones.








Another awe inspiring landmark was the St phelomena Cathedral that towered over everything else in the city.







Driving around in mysore was such an easy task compared to Bangalore. The more we drove through the city, the more we began to like this little heaven. The pressures of a burgeoning population were to be seen but the old world charm of this historical city came through everywhere from the food and hospitality to the tree lined roads and the laid back shop keepers.

We had to drive to Calicut that day and that meant the mysore stint had to end somewhere. Driving in Kerala is an extremely tiring affair and once out of the jungles of Bandipur, progress is painfully slow. Roads are usually choc a block with traffic and there is very little space for passing slower vehicles or giving way to faster ones. The distances are very short but takes very long to cover and a wonderful example of this is the Wayanad ghat section. I have done this countless times and except for couple of occasions when road repairs prevented heavy vehicles from plying, this drive has been a torrid affair. It is so slow that one needs to try extra hard not to do something stupid. This time around it was no different. I was the twelfth vehicle crawling behind a lumbering truck that could not move fast enough nor give way. Each and every time this has happened on a drive in Kerala, I have always seen some unreal talent coming from behind, doing kamikaze maneuvers and somehow making progress. I have had a deep respect for these drivers even though I speak ill of them in a conversation, simply because I cannot do what they do so effortlessly. This time it was a Brio, a Liva and a Tigor that were being "Giorgi Tevzadze" on the Wayanad ghats. While other mere mortals looked on in terror, these gladiators came in from behind and went head on at trucks and buses and other cars, squeezing into two finger gaps and making rapid progress down the ghats into the town of Adivaram. I was expecting something to go wrong any moment, more for my mind to be convinced that this wasnt skill but madness. But none of that happened and these merry hatches disappeared from view. I crawled into Adivaram much much later.

Since driving in Kerala was tough, we thought we would attempt to use the eco pro mode to save some moolah and and it turned out to be an absolutely wrong thing to do. The response is so muted that you are at everyone's mercy during overtakes or even while cruising which in Kerala lasts for fifty meters. It is indeed true that horsepower gives one a confidence of safety and the ability to get away from risks a lot better than slowing down and slugging it out with the conditions.

In a strange sort of way, some of these things come back at you and I saw the Brio later in the journey, make a tight overtake and cut in front of a Wagon R and get hit from behind with a wheel cap rolling down the road as an artifact. They pulled over and the Indian crash analysis ensued. We made it without incident like Vettel in the Ferrari, long after everyone had reached their destinations.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ampere]

Best for a weekend stroll and best place to head to and do nothing! The near BnW shot of the car in front of the hotel looks very nice.

[kedar_GT]

Super thread Megazoid! I was just thinking of asking you if you got your steed registered in KA. Looks like that is still in the works :-)

[PreludeSH]

Beautiful pictures. The car just complements the building and scenery so beautifully. Being white in colour just makes it blend harmoniously.

I studied in the school in the same compound as St Philomena's church. School name though was St Mary's !

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by megazoid

Checked for non existent punctures, pulled and pushed the steering wheel to see if it would come off in a corner, poured some injector cleaner and visualized them being made squeaky clean, searched for imaginary ants in the crevices to vaccum

Originally Posted by megazoid

Well, that did reduce the guilt and make the next day's breakfast a more deserving one.

Originally Posted by megazoid

Saw few nice cars at the parking lot at the top and it was obvious that this little hill had something for everybody right from the god fearing citizens all the way to the car loving ones.

Originally Posted by megazoid

They pulled over and the Indian crash analysis ensued.

Great sense of self deprecating humor sir! Though your travelog ends a little abruptly. I'm hoping this is a first of many installments. Looking forward.

[Air_Kerala]

Well written travelouge. A Bangalore to north Kerala trip via Bandipur is like a rite of passage for every professional based in Bangalore, who can trace their roots back to Kerala. Wayanad ghats and traversing the ghats is incomplete without a bunch of cars attempting kamikaze moves on slow moving traffic. Do update this thread regularly, can be a ready referral for drives south to Kerala.

[Dr.AD]

Wow! A fantastic travelogue with some truly amazing pictures. Nobody else can make a Bangalore-Mysore drive look so good as you can. Thank you for sharing this.

Originally Posted by megazoid

We were in no hurry and wanted to meander around and get to Lalith Mahal hotel by noon and therefore took a circuitous route with many stops. Some of these stops were extremely scenic while others were matter of fact stops. In the end, the drive from Bangalore to Mysore took a long time but we argued and convinced ourselves that we had a good time driving that long.

I can vouch that you would have found some most scenic routes to Mysore. That photo of your white 330i under that tree is really beautiful. If you had not told us, we would have thought that was some exotic location. The fact that you could so easily find such exotic locations while driving from Bangalore to Mysore shows a unique skill that very rare people have. Many of us have done Bangalore to Mysore drives many many times over the years. But nobody could show something so special in that. And when such drives take a long time, I don't think it is a problem. On the other hand, that is a bonus!

Thanks for sharing this lovely report. It is both entertaining and inspirational! Keep driving and keep writing!

[XDriver]

Megazoid, the travelogue was a treat to read and see. Absolutely gorgeous images with some stunning backdrops to the BMW! Thanks for sharing!

[vikas2211]

Great TL and Pictures!

Have lots of memories with Mysore - Cathedral, The palace, Late night bike rides to Chamundi Hills (was allowed during 2008-09), Zoo (not sure if it is still maintained to the levels it was), bike rides to Bandipur and Gopal Swamy temple.

Thanks for sharing!