[Samurai]

Well, it was time for another test run. Few days back it was noticed that the radiator was tilted away from the fan. So we put some extra thick washers to move the radiator closer to the fan. Now we had to see whether this fixed the problem.

Yesterday afternoon after finishing the hill conquering, I told my wife about another run to Agumbe.

Hill conquering link: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-of...uers-hill.html

But she wanted to try some other hill for a change, like Kudremukh ghats enroute to Sringeri. But I was interested in testing in the same ghats so that the test runs could be compared. Besides we didn’t know whether Kudremukh ghats were steep enough. So we decided to try couple of nearby hills first to see whether it overheats.

The first hill we tried was the one we live on, we just went about 500m behind our house and then descended the hill and see how it feels while climbing up.

The place where we started our descent, there were few people digging the foundation for a new house under the supervision of a contractor. They all gave us the look because we showed up in a SWB Jeep, that too with TN registration. Around here they are very registration conscious, they tend to judge you by that a lot. And I love to throw a spanner into their mental works to throw them off. As they were staring at me, I put the Jeep into 1st low and jumped off the Jeep as it started down the hill. I could see their collective dropped jaws in the peripheral vision. Meanwhile my wife was screaming at me to stop showing off and get back into the Jeep.

The view of the valley around Manipal.



The panoramic video:

YouTube - View from the hill behind the house.

Anyway, the climb backup was steep but nothing dramatic, I have done this before in GV too, so no sweat, no overheating either, it was just 100m at the most.

Now for the next hill, the one across end point. For this we had to hit the NH-17 and get back. The aerial distance is 2Kms, but 15Kms by road. This is because there is a river between the two hills and the only bridge is on NH-17. This is not the kind of river even the bravest off-roader could cross, we are talking 15-25ft depth across nearly 150m wide river.

We are talking about this Swarna river.



So we take off and finally hit the National Horror-17. Ah, this is the first time I am hitting this highway in the open Jeep in the middle of the monsoon. It was filled with trucks, buses, bad roads all the way, and filthy. Although I had to travel only 3 Kms on it, I hated it. My eyes started burning by all the pollution, next time I am getting the air-conditioned GV to NH-17.

After the Kalyanpura bridge over Swarna river, we turned right towards Kolalgiri, which literally means flute mountain. After few Kms we still don’t see a hill. Then we see a turnoff towards right with a temple arch, I ignore that continue straight. A Km later we drive through Kolalgiri town, but still no hill. My wife argues we should have taken the turn off towards the temple, it is common sense that temples are usually located on the top of the hill. Instead of spending my energy arguing, I take a U-turn and come back and take that turn. After a Km into the narrow deserted road, I stop and question a passerby.

Me: Hello, how far is the temple?
He: What temple?
Me: isn’t there a temple at the end of this road?
He: No, there is no temple on this road.
Me: Where does this road go?
He: Where do you want to go?
Me: Well, um.. I just want to see where this road goes.
He: Hmm, it goes nowhere, it stops after a while.

So we continue, as he said the tar road ended after 500m and forks into two very narrow mud roads. By experience I know these can turn into cattle trails in no time without any place for a U-turn. So we turn around and get back on the original path.

Then we see a signpost that says 18Kms to Perdoor. This got us perplexed since Perdoor is on the way to Hebri and Agumbe. Since we didn’t get any hill, we were wondering what to do. When we saw the Perdoor signpost, my wife says let us get back via Perdoor, we can avoid suffering the NH-17 again. Then I say we haven’t hill tested the Jeep as expected, why not go all the way to Agumbe if we are going till Perdoor. She says OK and I floor the pedal.

Somewhere between Kukkehalli and perdoor.



Meanwhile our son is completely confused, he doesn’t know where we are going, why we are going and when we are reaching wherever we are going. As we stop for a photo-shoot he asks for the Nth time whether we reached there. This question greatly bothers my wife. She questions him why he wants to know and lectures him about the concept of going nowhere and enjoying the travel.





Eventually we reach Perdoor and turn towards Agumbe. After this point it started raining hard almost continuously, I had to let go many photo opportunities since I couldn’t get out. We saw couple of delicious waterfalls in the rains that we decided to shoot on the way back.

The ride through Someshwara forest range.



The Agumbe Ghats has one major attraction over other major ghats in
Karnataka. It is the most pretty among all the ghats and has way too many view points, and can look very different from day to day basis. Every time I visit I see something new, you need to have eye to see it.

Until the base of the ghats where Someshwara town is located, the engine temp has settled at 80C. As we started climbing we kept a close eye on the temp reading. After crossing the second HP bend, the temp had risen to 85-90C. As we crossed the 3rd HP, it was still within 90C. Last time it hit 95C here forcing us to stop for long.

This was not taken at the designated viewpoint, but at a point between 2nd and 3rd hairpin bend.







Some more along the way.



This was shot handheld at 1/8 second.




Around this point, the temp started reaching close to 95C. I stopped and opened the radiator cap to check for fluid loss and added ½ lt of water. Immediately we continued driving, and the temp reading came down to 85-90C.

The Someshwara town from the top.



As we reached the top, the temp reading was at 90C with no cooling stop anywhere. A definite improvement over the last time.
This time the Agumbe town looked very different under the massive fog cover.







After checking couple of other hotels, we again settled for the same Kamath Hotel for the snacks break. They had hot Mangaluru Bajji and Capsicum bonda that went with the chilly wet mood outside.

Checkout the view from the restaurant.



Meanwhile the restaurant guy has recognized that we were repeat customers since we were here last week. Once he understood we were just wandering around, he suggested a nice waterfall nearby called Jogigundi. Since it was already 5:15PM, we decided to check it out next time.

On the way about we covered both waterfalls, although in light drizzle.

This is somewhere in the middle of the ghats.



And this is somewhere between Someshwara town and Sita river nature camp.





We finally reached home by 6:40PM.

The verdict of the latest test is mixed. There is definite improvement, while it did overheat, it was much more under control and we weren’t forced to stop for long time. I still need to get it checked by experts. I think I will take up Mr.Dhabhar’s advice and get it checked by the authorized dealer.

[speedzak]

Another thread with some very good pictures and a nice driving experience.
Samurai san! Keep it coming.

[pjay_in]

Enjoyed reading your post, Samurai. The ghats, the jeep, the rains.. what a combo.

[akroy]

Samurai San, Nice Narration and beautiful pictures. I simply like watch the pics everyday. Western Ghats in Monsoons looks amazing.

Abhi

[lohithrao]

ummm this pictures are tempting to head towards the ghats again

Samurai Fantastic!!!

[dinar]

Hey you mean that by removeing the tilt of the radiator, the heating problem has reduced? If that the case why don't M&M service guys know about it, and tell customers this? My friend Armada Has the problem and he uses the tried and tested formula of haveing a electric fan just like what I had on my jeep[but he's got a fan motor out of a indica and the fan is fabricted]
Also try your hands at a fan shroud so that the fan pulls air through the raditor only and not from the side[like on the big engines,cummins], just a thought, this may improver the cooling further.

[greenhorn]

all this offroading and your jeep still looks squeaky clean! Get some mud on it

[phamilyman]

Love your involvement with the jeep boss! You are living in a truly blessed place!

[jaysmokesleaves]

@ Samurai.
Nice pics of an even nicer place. I always relish pics of cloud sunk mountains blessed with pristine greenery. The jeep adds nostalgic value to it.
Thanks for sharing.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by akroy

Samurai San, Nice Narration and beautiful pictures. I simply like watch the pics everyday. Western Ghats in Monsoons looks amazing.

This is best time to visit these places to enjoy the monsoon. Just avoid NH-17 which is quite possible.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

all this offroading and your jeep still looks squeaky clean! Get some mud on it

In fact I did off-road in the morning (see 4x4 section), the constant pressure wash by the rains doesn't let any mud remain on the Jeep.

[kuttapan]

One wishes(rather selfishly) that the heating problem would not go off entirely, so that we keep getting these travelogues every week

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

One wishes(rather selfishly) that the heating problem would not go off entirely, so that we keep getting these travelogues every week

You just beat me to this.
Samurai, what would you do if the heating problem is solved ? Hope you solve your problem after the monsoon !!

[khan_sultan]

Samurai,

Great report and ride there. The clouds and the fog looks even better than Choma Kunda. The rain makes it perfect for 4x4.

Also, good to know that the temperature issues are slowly but surely being nailed down.

Originally Posted by Samurai

....it is common sense than temples are usually located on the top of the temple...

You sure about this one. Never heard of this common sense.

[Surprise]

Your writing and photographs would be make an interesting read and watch. This time I completely skipped your writing part and was stuck with the most beautiful pics. You are a lucky soul to explore such wonderful places. I envy you

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Rare thing in man's life.
One is living at great place having wonderful surrounding, having suv like GV and MAHINDRA, having love about nature, and when time permits, this man can wonder in forest and ghats.
We die for such opportunity.
samurai is lucky man.