[sriswe]

Smartcat,

Have been waiting for today's set of pics .... Its all photography info updates ..but this too good info for beginners like me ... ...

Thanks,
Srini...

[SmartCat]

Yeah, this image properties info is good - IrfanView even lets me know whether flash was used or not!

CHICKMAGALUR - BELUR - HALEBID TRIP CONTD:

Pic 1: The next day, we decide to visit Mullayanagiri. We find this elephant and his Mahout on the roadside. We politely ask him if we could take the elephant's photo. He politely asks for Rs. 200. We then politely refuse to pay, get back to the car, start the engine and clicked this photo. We were pretty sure that even if the Mahout ordered his elephant to attack us, we could get away.



Pic 2, 3, 4: Mullayanagiri is the tallest peak in South India (cough cough!). At 6300 ft, this is as high as Shimla's altitude. Except in the summer season, the road to Mullayanagiri is misty and foggy - even in the afternoon.







Pic 5: The tar road gives way to mud road, and visibility is low. Both Optra & the Palio have the turning radius of Jupiter. So we park the cars on the side and take a walk.



Pic 6: We spot a green snake during our walk. The image is blurry because we used digital zoom to get a closeup - since nobody in our group was drunk enough to get close to the snake.



Pic 7: We feel like idiots at the end of our 15 minute walk. There is a huge parking lot with atleast 10 parked taxis (and room for 10 more) at the "base camp".



Pic 8: We were truly disappointed to see so many people - men, women & children climbing up the hill. Although we didn't know what's on top the hill, we were pretty sure that there would be a temple (Clue: men, women & children) - and there actually is one.



Pic 9 & 10: Since none of us were in a "temple mood", we decide to explore the area, and find our own peak.

[Jayabusa]

How did I miss this thread?!! I'm not quite a reader but the pics seem to have me glued to this thread!

[SmartCat]

How did I miss this thread?

Oh I know the reason - the title of this thread is crappy! It sounds like I have collected some images/videos of Indian highways from the internet

I should have called it - 100,000 kms on Indian Highways with My Girlfriend Chameli. Now that would have got some attention.

[sriswe]

Smartcat,

Bring-on the chameli part of your 1,00,000 KMS of highway driving ....That episode might become the highlight of this thread ... ..

OT: In General, after opening the travelogues section, i will check updates for this thread and ofcourse our CL's incredible thread .....

Thanks,
Srini...

[SmartCat]

Actually there is a colleague of mine - she had christened my Optra as "Chameli". So don't expect anything new! We also have Kaalia, Titli, Musaafir, Golu and Dhanno amongst us.

I think the name "Chameli" was inspired by the Kareena Kapoor movie by the same name. See, the Optra is used (driven) by many men during our roadtrips - I know its not very flattering, but that's how the car got its name!

[SmartCat]

CHICKMAGALUR - BELUR - HALEBID (CONCLUDING PART)

Pic 1: After climbing for some time, we reach the summit of our little hill. The victorious moutaineering team that conquered the little mound -



Pic 2: That's me with my favorite "Hari Potter" T-shirt. I liked that shirt so much I used to wear it twice a week inspite of protests from Mum. But when I wore it for an important wedding, that was the last straw. I never saw that T-shirt again - Mum claimed it was stolen when it was hung outside for drying.



Pic 3: Climbing down our little hill is a slip and slide affair.



Pic 4: From Mullayanagiri, we decide to drive down to Halebid. Half-Italian Optra (Pininfarina link) chases full blooded Italian Palio through the narrow roads.



Pic 5: Of course, we do break for an ocassional pee stop. Meanwhile, Jagga sees a Jeep Taxi with a couple of girls inside - so he tries to look presentable.



Pic 6: The Hoysaleshwar Temple at Halebid.



Pic 7 & 8: The walls of the Temple are full of sculptures like these.





Pic 9: Statue of Nandi near the Temple.



Pic 10: Inside the Shiva Temple.



Pic 11: Ganesha Statue inside the Temple complex.



Pic 12: I'm incredibly proud of this picture I have taken - whenever I look at it, I pat my own back. This is evening when there are tourists all around. But at this moment when I took the photo, there was not a single one in the frame.



Pic 13: We have a "Round Leg Conference" at the Halebid Temple complex.



Pic 14: At the conference, we decide to drive down to Bangalore the same day, rather than leave Halebid the next morning.

[carlosTHEjackal]

Smartcat,

One of the good travelogues, I have read in t-bhp.

Originally Posted by smartcat

Pic 13: We have a "Round Leg Conference" at the Halebid Temple complex.

None of the legs are round. How come you are referring to them as 'Round Leg Conference'?

Instead you can call that as "All Legs Conference" similar to "All party meeting / Conference".

[SmartCat]

Glad you liked my trips Jackal!

Today, I bought two 195/60 R15 Yokohama A-Drives for Rs. 3800 each for my Optra. All this time, I was running Yokohamas in the front and Michelins at the rear. Now all four wheels run on Yokohamas.

Also discovered that the AC stops working after about 10 minutes. That is, the compressor switches off and the fan blows stale air into the cabin. But after a couple of hours, the AC starts working again (for 10 mins). I think the AC refrigerant has leaked out - will be going to the dealer this Monday.

Coming up tomorrow, pics from our roadtrip to Coastal Karnataka & Goa - in a Palio and a Wagon R. A sneak preview -

[pravdr]

Originally Posted by ampere

Good to note that it remains the same. Plus right at Ankola there is a Kamat which is very well maintained. (I think its towards the Karwar side and not Udupi side. But very close). But definitely adds to the charm of Nh63-NH17 meeting point with hot steaming South-Indian snacks!

yes the hubli karwar is a belter of a track did it in 2009 august.took it till yellapur no iron ore trucks.at yellapur went towards sirsi.the kamat is welcome respite. there is a a kamat at honavar too at the junction of gersoppa road with nh17. you have to travel right towards goa side to reach it in 300 mtrs.i hope this kamat is different than the one at ankola.this kamat was ok.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pravdr

yes the hubli karwar is a belter of a track did it in 2009 august.took it till yellapur no iron ore trucks.at yellapur went towards sirsi.the kamat is welcome respite. there is a a kamat at honavar too at the junction of gersoppa road with nh17. you have to travel right towards goa side to reach it in 300 mtrs.i hope this kamat is different than the one at ankola.this kamat was ok.

@pravdr, I have had food at this Kamat as well. The one at Ankola is maintained much better. Sometimes, to go to Hubli, the bus used to take the ghat stretch. The route used to be Karwar, Kadra, Joida, Dandeli, Haliyal, Dharwad, Hubli. The scenes were amazing, road quality, lesser mentioned the better !

The KSRTC bus to Bangalore used to take this route to Hubli and this by the way was the normal bus (no luxury options for such interior parts)! I have done this for almost 3-4 years ! Then came the private services Seabird and Sugama.

[SmartCat]

COASTAL KARNATAKA - GOA TRIP

Instead of going to Goa directly via Hubli, we decided to hit Mangalore first, check out some places along the Karnataka coast before entering Goa. From Goa, we drove to Bangalore via the usual Hubli route.

Pic 1: Meet Karthic's Wagon R. In 3 years, this car had done 5000 km so far. He is the type of guy who would wash & clean the car everyday and take an auto to the mall or office - blaming the traffic conditions. Out of the 5,000 km the car had done so far, I think my friends & myself would have used it for atleast 2,000 km. That's why decided to give the Optra a rest, and took the WagonR for this trip.

Pic 2: Since Karthic was a novice, I decided to sit in the passenger seat to keep an eye on dogs, road humps, cows and trucks. I don't think Karthic's wife was very happy that I had taken her place in the passenger seat.

Pic 3: As a precautionary measure, I had asked Jagga driving the Palio to follow our car all the way - just incase Karthic hits a tree or something.

Pic 4: Now Karthic's idea of brisk aggressive driving is 60 kmph, and sometimes 70 km/hr (going downhill). Our WagonR was regularly overtaken by trucks, whose passengers were looking at us as they went past. I wish I had a helmet to cover up my face.

Pic 5: In the Ghats, the Palio's hazard lights switch ON automatically. Both the car stop on the side, and we open up the bonnet of the Palio.

Vid 1: 2 days back, the Palio had been fitted with Autocop. So we open the bonnet and disable Autocop to solve the blinking lights problem.

YouTube - Autocop Messes Up the Wiring

Pic 6: We reach the Panambur Beach in Mangalore. From Left to Right -> Naveen the hairiest, Jagga the shortest, me the tallest, BP the fattest and Karthic the wierdest. Jagga is actually so short that - when it rains, he is generally the last one to know.

Pic 7: The couple were offered a camel ride on the beach.

Vid 2: Some hectic negotiations for fixing the rate for the camel ride.

YouTube - Camel Ride on Panambur Beach

Pic 8: "Man! What an Ugly Face!" - I bet that's what the camel was thinking when I shoved my face infront of the animal.

[adc]

Smartcat, caught up with all the pages - it is a riot and still there's quite a few years and lots of pages to go - keep the tempo!!

[Anandg]

Jagga is actually so short that - when it rains, he is generally the last one to know.

This line is one of the most humorous lines I read in your entire Oscar winning travelogue of "Incredible India". Your writing is as good as your journey. Waiting for more to come.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Meet Karthic's Wagon R. In 3 years, this car had done 5000 km so far. He is the type of guy who would wash & clean the car everyday and take an auto to the mall or office - blaming the traffic conditions. Out of the 5,000 km the car had done so far, I think my friends & myself would have used it for atleast 2,000 km. That's why decided to give the Optra a rest, and took the WagonR for this trip.

Sounds like my dad!

My dad wanted to sell off his old 800 (4 gear, no AC, tape based music system) . We called-up the Maruti true value to have a look at the car. The guy came, had a look and started commenting about how minimum he could give. Conversation ran thus:

Dad: Kitna milega? (How much I can get?)
TV: Aap ne kab Khareeeda tha? (When did you purchase?)
Dad: 1998
TV : Sir then Only about 30K max.
Dad: Are Gaadi Jyada chali nahi hai (It has not been driven much)
TV : (Probably thinking that still he could get away). Sir How much did you drive.
Dad: 13000 in 12 years.

At this point the guy fell flat laughing and asked why dad wanted to change? Away guess how much we got for the old car? 70K. The best price was decided not by the state of the car, but by depreciation ! Now dad has a Ritz LXI which is doing similar rounds.