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Please forgive me first if my sentences are having punctuation, grammatical errors because this is my first ever trip report / blog I've written so far.
Brief Background :
I was planning for a long drive for quite a long time but due to work pressure and non availability of time, I was not able to do so. Finally this year during my kids summer vacation, I made my plan in final shape.
My original plan was to drive Bangalore - Pune - Mumbai - Ahmedabad - Udaipur - Ajmer - Jaipur - Delhi - Agra - Jhansi - Khajuraho - Pench - Tadoba - Hyderabad - Bangalore but due to last minute message from my parents that they are coming to Bangalore in May, I cut short my plan and made it to drive Bangalore - Hampi - Bijapur - Shirdi - aurangabad - Ajanta - Tadoba - Hyderabad - Bangalore.
So, I chalked out my plan, got my Logan Serviced and at last time, I found that bthree of the tires are worn out due to wrong alignment done by the Alignment guy and I was forced to get my Tires replaced completely to avoid any accidents or punctures during my trip.
Statistics :
Vehicle used : Logan 1.5 DLS with 14" Alloy and 195/60 R14 Bridgestone tires
Fuel used : 137 Litres
Total KMS : 2960 Kms including Highway and Local City driving
Fuel Efficiency : 21.60 Kms/Litre
AC Used : 90% driving with AC on
States Covered : Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh
Places covered : Hampi, Bijapur, Solapur, Shirdi, Aurangabad, Ajanta, Chandrapur (Tadoba), Hyderabad.
I'm starting my travelogue now :
Day 1 : 8/4/2010 :
The previous night, we packed our luggage, medicines, food etc. and put into my Logan's large dicky. Also kept my Camera, Binocs, Tripod etc.
My plan was to start early bue due to my kids got up late, finally we started at 7.00 a.m. on 8-4-2010 and from my home at Padmanabha Nagar, we took Ring Road and drove towards Hoskarahalli and from there we took Nice Road all the way upto Tumkur Highway.
It took almost 30 minutes to reach NH4 via NICE Road, one of the best roads I've ever driven. From there onwards, we drove upto Chitradurga.
For those who are planning to use NH4, make sure you carry your own food as upto Chitradurga, there are very few places where you can get good quality food. i say not more than 2 places I saw (Coffee Day and a small Restaurant).
We stopped at Chitradurga NH4 after passing Chitradurga, we found a good restaurant "Atithi" on the left side of NH4, having good food.
From Chitradurga, road bifurcates into NH4 and NH13 and we moved onto NH13 for our first destination HAMPI.
NH13 is a single road and still not converted into 4 Lane and I don't think it will be converted into 4 lanes in another 15-20 years. The condition of NH13 is pathetic with long queues of Lorries, forcing you to either slow down or stop completely to allow them to pass first. Because of BAD Road conditions, it took more than 3 hours to cover the distance of 147 Kms.
Roads inside HAMPI are worst because of mines surrounding the place. Full of DUST.
We stayed at Hotel Mayura Bhuvaneshwari (A KSTDC Hotel). This hotel is good though slightly costly at Rs. 2,100/- per night with good food.
I'll post images of Hampi soon... and will also post remaining part of my Travelogue.
Looking forward to your travelogue, now dont keep us waiting.
A great travelogue on the way!
wow. The vijayanagara empire. Good. been ages. Would love to see photos.
Did you try the bicycle hire? Its fun exploring the place on a cycle.
Hardly 200 rupees for a full day.
FE of 21 with 90% AC is fantastic!
Nice start. I am hooked to this log.
FE @ 21kmpl WOW.
Good good good :)
Waiting for the details. 21kmpl? That's a wonderful economy. Excellent engine. Wish Renault spend some time in design & pricing too!
Amazing mileage for a Logan Diesel. Keep the pics and travelogue flowing. After a long time, I have started writing one myself just now. Hope I complete it by tomorrow.
Abhi
Quote:
Originally Posted by micrographics
(Post 1846979)
It took almost 30 minutes to reach NH4 via NICE Road, one of the best roads I've ever driven.
|
NICE road is a real nice road & some of the stretches remind me of US & sometimes made me wonder if I were driving in India or abroad, but then I see some morons occupying both the lanes that assured me that Yes, this is India. Req to post your travelogue along with pics & that would be more interesting to read, also, you don't need to take pains to write much, as pics speak for themselves.
Nice write-up. And waiting for pics. What's the deal about 9 tigers??
Here are the imaghes taken upto and in Hampi :
River view from NH4 :
Wind Mills view on NH4, before Chitradurga :
I saw this tractor in Flames - Cause Scorching Heat on NH4 :
Me and my son at Hotel Mayura, Hampi :
My Wife and Daughter at Hotel Mayura, Hampi :
more to follow...
so far so good!!!keep it coming!!!!
Nice trip log there. 9 tigers, I am now hooked to this thread.
Do post the complete trip log and keep the pictures coming.
After having our lunch and some rest, we headed towards Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary, one of my dream destinations. After driving for approx. 15 Kms on Muddy Road, we reached Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary but to our disappointment, none of the forest officials were present and we returned to our Hotel without seeing Sloth Bears and decided to call Range Officer next morning.
Day # 2 : 9-4-2010
Got up early, and did some birding and photography in the Hotel premises and then called up Range Officer of Daroji Sanctuary to get permission to visit the Sanctuary in evening. Range Office promptly agreed and permitted us to visit the Sanctuary after 1 p.m. same day and assured us that he will depute one Forest Watcher for us so that we can go anywhere in the forest and shoot Birds and Sloth Bears.
After thiws, we had our breakfast and headed for Vittalla Temple also known as Musical Pillar Temple. There we hired our Guide for rest of the day to see all the historical places of HAMPI.
The Guide was well educated and gave us all the details about various places and even showed us several places that were not in my list.
Around 1 p.m. we returned to our Hotel for lunch and for our visit to Daroji Sanctuary. We quickly finished our lunch and headed towards Daroji. The forest watcher was waiting for us and he promptly accompanied us and took us to the most convenient location in Daroji Forest so that we can shoot Sloth Bears from minimal distance and with full comfirt.
Here are the images from our second day :
Our Guide at Hampi showing us map of Hampi and marking places to see :
At the entrance of Vittalla Temple with my kids, while my wife was taking snaps :
My kids outside the Musical Pillar Complex :
My wife outside Musical Pillar Complex :
Stone Chariot :
View of Anjaneya Parvat, where Lord Hanuman took birth :
View of Vittalla Temple Complex :
My little master, trying his hands on Photography :
Lotus Mahal :
Single stone statute of Ugra Narasimha :
12 Feet high Siva Linga made from Single Stone :
Waiting for Sloth Bears ar Daroji Sanctuary :
Here the Sloth Bear come :
This made my 2nd Day.
Will post 3rd Day log tomorrow...Keep checking
Sloth bears .... this is indeed unique n awesome!!
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