[manolin]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Great going bro!!! nice pics from Goa. Palolem beach is the place to be in Goa.

the pace of life there is unmatched..and you feel relaxed after two days there.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Pic 10: Bro shows off his "Mission Impossible" Tom Cruise style rock climbing skills.

Right from your first pic, I saw the similarity... I am Ashish's colleaugue. Smalll World haan.

And awesome pics and "bharat darshan".

[R.K.Ramesh]

Rivettingly engrossing thread with stunning pictures and entertaining captions. You certainly are a smart cat at these things Smartcat

Thanks for all this - looking forward to more in the same vein.

[SmartCat]

Vasanth, yeah - small world! And when I had come down to your office on "Family Day" a couple of months back, atleast 15 people in your office mentioned the similarity

[KSM-Vtec]

Thats so true!!! On a GOa trip all we do is 5 days of palolem and 1 afternoon of water sports followed by some good time at 9bar. And then back to mum

Originally Posted by manolin

the pace of life there is unmatched..and you feel relaxed after two days there.

[SmartCat]

For those who haven't been to Palolem, the reason we like to so much is that it is very shallow. You can walk into the water for 100 ft and the water will still be knee deep. Plus, the crowds are far less. Ideal for wallowing around like walruses!

This pic gives an idea about the shallowness of the beach. And unlike other beaches, the sand is hard-packed. So your Jockeys won't collect sand!

On a GOa trip all we do is 5 days of palolem and 1 afternoon of water sports

Have you been to "Money Stone" on Palolem beach? According to wikipedia, it is a "Give if you can, take if you want to" scuplture. Basicallly,
if you can spare some change, you can drop it there. And if you need money, you can pick it up from the sculpture.



It's probably on the 2nd hill (farther from the beach) - I'm not sure. Next time you go to Palolem, see if you can get to the "Money Stone".

Money Stone image on Palolem beach taken from Wikipedia

[MX6]

So did you give or take? lol. I do notice 20 Euros unattended though!

[SmartCat]

I haven't been there yet! I would have taken the banana - because the trek will definitely be tiring

[SmartCat]

Rivettingly engrossing thread with stunning pictures and entertaining captions

Thank you for those adjectives, Ramesh. Hope you like this one -


A short business trip to Chennai to attend a conference - do not expect photos of Marina beach here.

Pic 1: Friend No. 1 takes over the wheel.



Pic 2: Sedate driver - drives at 90 km/hr. I like the pace.



Pic 3: This gives an avg speed of 72.3 km/hr on the empty Bangalore - Chennai highway.



Pic 4: A quick pee stop - everybody bails out from the car.



Pic 5: Preparation for the conference in our hotel room



Pic 6: At the conference. Speakers ramble on and on for hours. We mark all the exits for a quick clean getaway.



Pic 7: We flee half-way through the conference. Friend No. 2 takes over the wheel.



Pic 8: This one is not exactly a sedate driver. GPS records a top speed of 163 km/hr and an avg speed of 93.3 km/hr. Bangalore is now only 100 km away.



Pic 9: Friend No.1 sleeps through the whole journey at the back seat - the effect of the conference we attended.



Pic 10: We try to reach Bangalore before sunset.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Have you been to "Money Stone" on Palolem beach? According to wikipedia, it is a "Give if you can, take if you want to" scuplture. Basicallly,
if you can spare some change, you can drop it there. And if you need money, you can pick it up from the sculpture.

It's probably on the 2nd hill (farther from the beach) - I'm not sure. Next time you go to Palolem, see if you can get to the "Money Stone".

Money Stone image on Palolem beach taken from Wikipedia

its on the hill after Neptune point

Have been to the money stone but, these days you dont find anything in it

[MX6]

The Chennai Bangalore leg of NH4 is amazing. I drove at an 100 - 110 in that route last time. Traffic was low as well. I was amazed at the results.
I left home at 5 pm and reached hosur at 9 pm. That included a break at vellore where we had dinner at Saravana bhavan (costed a bomb there). I was amazed because, I kept a constant speed. Travelled around 314 kms in around 3.5 hours. And my car returned a great mileage of 20.14 kmpl which was over the 18 I normally get on highways. That was the only time I got such mileage. I love that part of the NH4.

[R.K.Ramesh]

^^^ Great news that Indian Highways now allow for such extended high speed cruises at a constant speeds MX6 - perhaps we can soon use cruize control features on our highways and expressways.

Certainly love browsing through your pics Smartcat. NH4 seems to now be wearing her Sunday bests. I too would classify myself as a sedate driver - between 90-110 depending on which car. I like to maintain brisk progress but love to glide along with passenger comfort as a top priority.

Flinging the car round high speed curves, feeling the G-forces is fun and dramtically thrilling and I do indulge in these too at times. However, especially if there are other passengers in the car, there is enjoyment in simply gliding along with the least effort while being fully alert with engine wispering gently interacting with the car like it were a delicate baby. On a well surfaced road with the scenery wafting by, it almost feels like i were ni some 3-D movie. And when speeds are low enough opening the windows to a soothing balmy breeze. The feeling of ease and well being is refreshing and allows one to savour the sweetness that seems to come out of this.

When one is in a hurry this mind set of ease allows me to squeeze past traffic causing the minimal ripples if you know what I mean. Amazingly I find other road users comply knowingly or otherwise - like a study in some new age thinking. Dunno if I make sense but well your extensive road trips made me think aloud.

Cheers and keep up the good work.

[SmartCat]

Have been to the money stone but, these days you dont find anything in it

Looks like all the Indians are takers and we have only a handful of foreign givers!

I left home at 5 pm and reached hosur at 9 pm

Thanks to the Bangalore - Electronics city elevated expressway, getting to Bangalore from Hosur will be a quick affair. I wonder why there are more than 10 flights/day between Chennai & Bangalore!

I like to maintain brisk progress but love to glide along with passenger comfort as a top priority

Yessir. Good ride quality is my top priority too - if given a choice between handling & ride quality when going for a new car, I would go for the latter. In an existing car, passenger comfort/better ride quality can be achieved by NOT placing both the front wheels on the bad patches. Atleast one side (left or right) should be on a relatively smooth surface. This requires a bit of going like snake, but helps in maintaining both speed and comfort.

On good straight roads, most well driven powerful cars/SUVs overtake us. But on bad roads, we overtake them back with our driving technique. While big SUVs/cars trundle along slowly on bad patches, we quickly drive past them on our low slung sedan!

Of course, regular Bangalore - Mangalore runs helps in fine-tuning our technique of driving "fast" (comparitively) on bad roads

[ishotmydog]

nice pictures again smartcat

how many road trips do you do in a year man? i am taking inspiration from you now

[SmartCat]

Generally, we take off when there is a festival holiday on a Friday or a Monday (for a 3 day trip) and a Thursday or a Tuesday (for a 4 day trip, friends need to take 'leave' from office on friday & monday respectively).

I can afford to take off for many days because I can run my business with a laptop/internet connection from anywhere. If my regular friends can't make it because of their limited office 'leave' constraints, I tap into my network of other friends who have saved up their holidays!

We take off for a long 7 to 15 day trip once a year. Even if there are no festival holidays, we take off on a "day trip" or a weekend saturday/sunday trip close to Bangalore.