We started the journey with 0 ride plan and no destination in mind.

BHPian doomketu recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

RESET

Stress is a silent killer. It piles on you one incident at a time and build up like the sludge in an engine whose oil has not been changed in years. When built up with nowhere to go, it compresses itself into a singularity and explodes with a big bang when you least expect it, laying waste the efforts you had put to maintain everything in its place.
If identified early, you can start multiple home remedies to alleviate the buildup and slowly regain your sanity and sense of self. Some do yoga, others sing, while some workout, and I chose to ride it out.

With hectic work schedule and multiple escalations my hours were confined to the 10 hours I spend ( I make sure to log off and go offline after work hours) but those 10 hours each day for 2 weeks were peak stress inducing instances where despite my technical skills, external factors would hinder me with my investigation leading to a mess. Pressure creates diamonds, but in this case it created mashed potatoes and somehow the team and I tided this over. Exhausted as it is and now gearing up to face our next technical upgrade, I decided to reset myself before attempting anything. Though I ride the bike almost daily, it is limited to the confines of a routine befitting a domesticated animal, Home - Office - Home , with no scope to let loose its wild nature that is hidden just past the rpm midrange. Sai and I got talking about an unrelated topic and a last minute decision entailed that I would get just 4 hours of sleep to meet him next morning and Ride along Kanakapura road, with no agenda in sight. We both wanted to just ride for the sake of riding with a good place to view the sunrise being an added bonus. Little did we know that we would realise how beautiful the inner roads past Kanakapura are and how we can enjoy the curves and the mountains side by side.

I set off from the easternmost tip of Bangalore at 430 am, armed with only my riding gear and a bottle of water, only to be greeted by traffic in the ORR thanks to the Metro Construction. What a lovely start to the day. I reached Murthy's petrol pump at the Kanakapura Road Nice road junction and filled up on XP95. I was in line to fill fuel as just before me was a gentleman in a Street Triple 765 and his friend in a Street Twin 1200. If there is anything in the world that can jumpstart your heart, it would be either the symphony of the 3cylinder Triumph or the inline 4 orchestra of the ZX4R. After talking to the gentlemen for a bit (I hope you both are Bhpians) they set of on their way for the Rocky ridge circuit that they had planned for the weekend. Sai joined in 15 minutes later and we set off with a 20 min overall deviation from our 530am agreed upon. As usual we had to take obligatory photos of the Apache 310's with their headlight on. You underestimate how much I love the headlamp of my RTR.

We started the journey with 0 ride plan and no destination in mind. With Kanakapura road opening up and welcoming us, we crossed Harohalli in not time and the scenery went from semi urban landscape to pure natural bliss. This ride is enough to convince me to save up and pick up an Insta360X3 and mount it to Appucha, just to relive the memories over and over. Sparse traffic and beautiful tarmac aided us and we maintained the speed limit quite easily. Surprisingly the speed limit here is 100, which is totally doable, provided you restrain your throttle hand and keep a lookout as Activa in wrong lane is least of your worries, the divine bovine and street dogs will ensure they keep you on the edge of your seat. before we knew it, we reached Kanakapura, 40km away from our start time. We decided to turn left and follow the state road and further take a left and head towards district roads, away from any main channels. I am glad we took this route. The Road curved naturally and the scenery on both sides was sublime. The lush greenery (hasiru) and the local cows (hasu) munching on breakfast , the cold morning breeze and the 630 am misty sunrise filled us with happiness. We stopped for a Sunrise photo shoot and then ambled further inwards reading the signage ( which is beautifully maintained in Kannada and English) which showed that the Arkavathi Reservoir was a mere 17km away.

We decided to go the long way around and approach from the south and stumbled quite accidentally upon an upward slant Z curve followed by a bridge over the river. We approached the curve at 60kph and the feeling we got when tackling it only to be greeted by an even more beautiful boulevard of purple flowering trees was truly a sight to behold. We did not stop anywhere till we hit the Bridge on top of the River. The bridge is a fantastic and slightly risky spot to stop and take photos of the bike as its quite narrow and the KSRTC Sarige busses zoom past us in a hurry. We spent a good 15 mins admiring the view and that is when my brain reset itself. It was at this moment that we both just quietly looked at the landscape and let out our sighs, thereby steeling ourself to tackle the next workweek. Standing in front of such a majestic view is indeed a beautiful way to reset and rejuvenate ourselves.

From here on we slowly ambled thru concerte village roads with lush green fields on both sides and made our way to the Reservoir. By this time the sun was up in the sky and was uninhibitedly raining down heat and exhaustion upon us.It was just 735 but we could feel the temps rise. The reservoir is a good place to park your bike and chill for a bit , and with a decent view surrounding it, you can take good pictures if you are handy with a DSLR. After clicking a few pics and soaking in the view, we decided to start our return journey back to Bangalore. Trusting google maami's guidance we quickly reached the main road which took us to kanakapura and from there stopped just outside kanakapura for breakfast.

To those who frequent this road, I will recommend Mandarthi Gardenia. Their thatte idli with Mint chutney is pretty good. Their vadai is decent but coffee is alright. From here on, it was every man for himself and we both started the ride back and split near Nice road junction. I covered the last 60 km from the hotel to home in an hour and 10 mins which is not bad at all. All in all with mind recharged, I will dream about the hasiru (green) roads with the "olle" ( good) curves which can cure good chunk of stress. I am sure others in TBHP will have similar stories on much better roads or more capable bikes with more skill than me, but hey we work with the tools we have and the skill we cultivate. As long as it makes us happy, we are on the right track.

Till next time , Dhanyavaadagalu for reading this amateurish adventure.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

It has been a refreshing travel down the memory lane, and long buried photos & videos in the SD card got to see the light of TeamBHP!

BHPian GhostRider28 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

This is a rather long story about my last 4 travelogues - across 4 different places in the last 2 years. Yes, I have been too lazy to write the travelogues for each, after the trip end. But to my defence, I have a small kid and a busy office schedule (life is hard, and I am trying to make ends meet guys). Also, I have probably reached that age where you think more and wonder whether I have given something back to the society. So I thought Teambhp might be the best place to start, and thought about sharing a travelogue - or rather 4 travelogues (as 4 threads).

To justify the title, this took 2 years of procrastination and then another 4 weeks in the assembly line.

Who will find it useful to read? People who still ask about the experience of rented cars and would love to read about the Himachal, Goa and Uttarakhand; and I have now tried all 3 of 1. Zoomcar, 2. Local hires and 3. Institutional alternatives to Zoomcar.

Gone are the days of driving across the length and breadth of India and enjoy the drives. One - Wife and Kid will have to go via flight and I don't have the energy (and leaves) to drive from Kolkata to Chandigarh alone in an ageing Duster - the decibels inside the cabin are now probably more than the remaining BHP number.

Himachal in a hired Ciaz - June 2023

When we were a couple, we always avoided peak travel seasons. But now we have a kiddo and if we have to stay true to our motto of at least 3 vacations in a year, summer, winter and Durga puja vacations are must. So summer holidays in Sangla, it is!

I looked up Zoomcar options, and since I had spent fortune on flight tickets to Chandigarh from Kolkata, being late in booking, the only proper budget option left with was a Ciaz, apart from the Thar, which I had to rule out due to luggage space constraints and strong objections from my wife. I have heard good reviews about the car, so locked it in.

I picked up the car from PanchKulla (from a fairly desolate place, don't remember exactly where), in the middle of a dust storm! Not a good omen, I thought; and naturally realised within 10 mins of starting that one of the headlights are off. Those who are thinking it is going to be a horror story of the Ciaz, please keep your hopes down. All I had to do was wake up an hour earlier than the already early plan, waited at the gate of the of the nearest workshop from the hotel at Chandigarh, and got them to replace it. I thought I also caught sight of a sewn together accessories belt, but cajoled myself that I must have seen something wrong with my groggy eyes.

No other fiasco on the way, apart from a loose mudflap, which got fixed at a shack and a slow but steady increase of noise which I attributed to the front right calliper.

The first view of the mountains anyways cheers you up!

We reached Narkanda late in the evening (Google suggested the main highway instead of the narrow Shimla bypass road despite being the peak of summer and it was the correct recommendation).

Next day the target was Sangla, a long journey.
Ciaz was extremely comfortable and my son who usually had a bit of motion sickness didn't complain at all. This circuit has been covered several times on TeamBHP and I will just let the pictures do the talking.


The beautiful roads soon disappeared into broken patches just after Jeori to almost zero tarred roads after Karcham. Being used to the Duster AWD which just gallops over broken streches without so much as a trifle to the riders, I had already started to curse my decision for a Ciaz. We were already running late and a torrential downpour after Jeori was just the icing on the cake! But, the story of ice/snow was just about to begin and we were rewarded with glorious views just after the rain stopped.

We were staying in the Banjara resort and steep slippery incline to their parking was not helping the Ciaz. "We should have stuck to getting a Thar" (I had by that time repeated myself hoarse). But it was one of the best places we have stayed, just beside the Baspa, and surrounded by snow capped peaks; and all the pain just melted away.

That was our cottage just beside the Baspa.

But the road next day to Chitkul really strained every bolt of the Ciaz and I even risked it down a muddy trail where local Innovas refused to go. But all the tips by TeamBHP offroad veterans didn't go to waste on me

We missed the Rakcham meadows as only 4WDs were being allowed (cursed myself again).
We touched Kalpa on our way back to Sarahan. Sights at Kalpa were so breathtaking that I promised myself a trip to Spiti soon!

Sarahan is one of the prettiest little hamlets I have been to. For the night stop, we realised that Booking.com has not even bothered to send our booking to the hotel, but the manager was kind enough to give us a splendid room at 70% of the price (Himalayan Heritage, right on the highway).
The entire road to the Bhimkali temple in Sarahan is lined with quaint little cottages with gardens. Just point your camera anywhere and voila!

We stayed the final nights near Kufri and made a quick trip to Shimla. No prizes for guessing which cafe in Shimla this is!

We had a flight in the evening and started well in advance. The noise from the front right side had grown worse and by the time I was almost off the hills, I had noticed a slight lethargy in the brakes kicking in. On hindsight, I should have got it checked immediately when the sound started. Long story short, by the time I had filled up the tank and was a kilometer away from the drop off place, brakes had to be jammed in with full force to get a bite and downshifts/parking brakes and 1st/2nd gear was the only option. (Brake oil levels etc were all surprisingly okay). I notified the pickup person, who seemed to be handling a fleet. I completed all Zoomcar formalities, but did a cardinal mistake. I took all pictures through the Zoomcar app itself and successfully ended the trip. I was well on time for my flight back to Kolkata from Chandigarh.

3 days later I got a bill from Zoomcar saying I have to pay for a tankful of fuel! Zoomcar support is one of the worst, and after 1 week of to and fro, they were apparently able to recover pictures from my app, which showed a picture of an absolutely empty tank! (Yes, I ensured that the odometer reading was visible when taking the fuel gauge picture, before anyone jumps!)

Long story short, after 2 weeks of fighting, I could not get them to recover the original pictures of the full tank gauge I had taken through the app. I did not have the pictures on my phone library and ended up paying 4k to get a peace of mind. I have also never seen a worst customer service. Moral of the story: Click the pictures first on your phone and then use the Zoomcar app to upload.

Never again I would book Zoomcar, I thought. But fate had other plans.

Continue reading BHPian GhostRider28's travelogue for more insights and information.

I covered 275 kms on this trip and my Interceptor 650 performed fine as always. It has run 17,500 kms and completed 3 years in February

BHPian tharian recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Saturday morning and I had to drop off my daughter for some classes and had couple of hours to kill. Usually I go to Baiyapanahalli rail station close by and trainspot, but the heat put that plan away and instead thought of doing a ride around, probably to Hoskote and return on the back roads.

I had done these roads few times before when exploring roads years ago and thought of re-tracing them. With all the development around, these roads look different now and I was referring to the map most of the time. Crossed Hoodi and headed on the Sarjapur road towards Malur. Thankfully the roads were not too bad except for some potholes here and there. Crossed the still under construction STRR bridge over the railway line and ended up in Malur industrial park. I still had a feeling that I could get back in time on the highway to pick up my daughter and then checked the maps and realized it was more than hour. Informed my wife that I am running late and gave myself more options to continue my ride.

Crossed over the highway and headed towards Chintamini to return via Chikkabalapur. The weather was not too hot since there were clouds gathering and most of the times it wasn't too bright especially when riding in open barren areas.
From Chintamini, I found a state highway connecting to Bagepalli on the Hyderabad highway. It is roads like these that I try to find to ride on as they are relaxing with less traffic, no heavy vehicles except for an occasional bus connecting villages. This stretch was around 50 kms and most of it was well paved and wide enough for a bus. Lots of curves and ups and downs. The only catch is that if I get a breakdown, it will be a long wait.
The return was on the Hyderabad highway back where I could increase my speed. Nearing the airport, it started pouring and it was a welcome relief from the heat and I was happy to ride in the heavy rain when everyone were finding cover.

Covered 275 kms. Bike performed fine as always. I was able to also guage the wet grip of the MRF's which was good enough on a straight road. Braking felt a bit tricky with ABS kicking and small lock ups when braking in slow speeds due to first showers effect on the roads.
The tappets get noisy at times after a hard ride but goes away the next day. On a relaxed ride like this one, there is no noise. I did notice the engine heat on my thighs this time which I haven't experienced in a while and is probably because I leaned out the mixture on the FuelX. With the stock filter and open bracket I am running, the engine runs much smoother now and throttle openings are much smoother. The other difference is when I wring the throttle open, it doesn't pick up speed as quick nor sounds as nice for obvious reasons.

Bike has run 17500 kms and completed 3 years in February. The battery still feels healthy and is my main concern now.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

As usual Compass is a joy to drive in empty roads, even in higher speeds and it has enough juice to go even more.

BHPian ramnaresh_2000 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Weekend trip to Gandikota (The Indian Grand Canyon).

Planned for a weekend trip from Hyderabad to Gandikota. I had seen some instagram reels and liked the scenic views of Gandikota.

We started on Saturday morning at 08:00 AM, we took the below route

ORR-Shadnagar-Kurnool-Gandikota

ORR speed limit of 120 kmph, and then NH44 and NH40, all fantastic roads. I was easily doing 100 to 120 without effort. No traffic on Saturday, I was also able to touch 150 speeds for some time due to excellent roads and zero traffic. Reached Gandikota view point at 4:00 PM.

What a fantastic scenic view. You have to see it to feel it, words cannot describe it. I will let the photos do the talking. Next day went to Belum Caves.

Other places to visit nearby, Yaganti temple and on way back you can visit Gadwal Jogulamba temple (5th Shakthi peet). You can stay at the view point by renting tent houses and have nice bonfire at night, do some star gazing. We did not opt for it as the condition of the tents was not good and many others were drinking there. Something the government officials should look i to. Overall we didn't feel safe to stay at night.

You can stay at resorts nearby, many available there. We stayed at Royal County which was decent place, but expensive.

Overall 1000+ kms of drive in 2 days. As usual Compass is a joy to drive in empty roads, even in higher speeds and it has enough juice to go even more. Compass was stable like an eagle. Only issue I faced was I ran out of windshield water fluid (Compass has a 4 liters washer fluid tank ).

Accommodation was some 4,700 bucks booked via Agoda. Tolls around 1500, food was 3,800 and 6,500 for diesel and other miscellaneous shopping. Overall we enjoyed a lot, highly recommended trip if you stay in nearby states.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

It was a lovely weekend road trip with awesome places, good terrains to drive, some great food, beautiful company of wife and the mighty Innova Hycross doubled the joy of travel.

BHPian hummer recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

After buying the Innova Hycross, we wanted to go on a long drive to experience highways, village roads, ghat sections and night drive to test its capabilities.

Our recent trip to Sakleshpur fulfilled this. It’s a short road trip over a weekend, only wifey and I on our new Hycross GX (O) Blackish Ageha. Though intention was to test the capability of Hycross, it turned out to be a trip which passed compatibility test between wifey and I, it brought us more closer, trip provided good time and space to understand each other well and rekindled the romance to be precise. Such trips are really necessary especially for people living in cities like Bengaluru where life is like an assembly line of the factory.

Also, Hycross won our hearts without missing a beat, this is the first Toyota car I am owning, Toyota for sure know what customers want. No wonder they master reliability, quality and satisfaction. Hycross performed extremely well in all kinds of terrains, ghats and night drive.

Filled the petrol previous day, checked the air pressure and got the Hycross ready for our early morning drive:

Started from Bengaluru on around 6am, drove through NICE road, Tumkur road and joined Mangalore highway near Nelamangala:

There was not much traffic, I traveled on this route many times in Duster before, generally its foggy till Yediyur during early mornings. In my point of view, Mangalore highway is not safe, it has vehicles/people crossing at multiple places, has road humps which can put high speed vehicles into risk, too many curves and too many restaurants so people brake abruptly watching the restaurants, hence better be in safe speed limits.

Hycross beeps once after crossing 100kmph and continuous beeps after 120kmph, which is annoying at times for spirited drives, but also good to keep safe speeds. There are numerous restaurants on this stretch and some are really cool.

We took a short break at Harsha Grand for breakfast and coffee:

Highway condition while crossing Hassan town is pathetic and dangerous, expect reckless driving by trucks and containers. Next stop was at Manjarabad Fort near Sakleshpura. Its a star-shaped fort constructed in 18th century, fort design is influenced by French architecture. It is located at a height of approximately 3250 ft above sea level.
https://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/manjarabad-fort/

People say we can see the Arabian sea from the top on a clear day, but we couldn’t see though. One can’t see star shape of the fort unless seen from the top through drone or helicopter.

Overall it’s a nice place to visit and for some cool pictures:

Drive from Manjarabad fort to Eka Resort through coffee estates and small villages was awesome, Hycross turned many heads due to its amazing color and sheer size.

Finaly we reached the Eka resort, it seem to be an old and popular resort in this region. This resort is inside a 50 acre coffee estate, so the location is great, serene and peaceful. It has got nice cottages, a beautiful swimming pool overlooking the coffee estate, large party area next to pool, SPA, outdoor badminton court, volleyball space and enough parking for 5-6 cars. Staff is polite and attentive.

However, resort lacks upkeeping and amenities needs maintenance. Property was all ours because there were only couple of other guests, so lot of privacy and service attention. Lunch buffet was arranged well even though there were only few guests, food was tasty. Overall its an average resort, ok for a casual weekend drive.
https://www.ekaresorts.com/

Nice and spacious cottage:

Pool with coffee estate in the background:

Lawn and walking trail:

Inside the coffee estate:

After the lunch, we visited Bisle ghat view point. Hycross sailed effortlessly through the ghat sections and it was a pleasure driving through those heavenly spots. Bisle ghat is a paradise for nature lovers, there is a view point that overlooks the beautiful Dodda Betta, Kumara Parvatha and Pushpagiri along with a few others peaks in the range. We can also view the stunning beauty of cascading waterfalls, covered in dense forests, you can hear the sound of water, birds and wind. We can just sit there and get lost watching that captivating view. We couldn’t see sunset may be the point was a bit off the view point due to sun’s path in November.

Returned to the resort by evening, had a strong coffee, later took only a light dinner and retired for the day recalling the satisfying drive of the day.

Next day, finished the breakfast by 9am and checked out of the resort. Next destination was Shettihalli Rosary Church. It was built in 1860s by French missionaries, its a magnificent structure of Gothic Architecture. Church was submerged under water in 1960 after the construction of Hemavati Dam, it became a famous tourist spot, also known as floating church. Church gets semi-flooded with water during the peak of monsoon and only one-third of the structure can be seen above water between June and October. It’s a must visit place if you drive around Hassan/Sakleshpur.

New church:

It was very hot outside but thanks to excellent A/C in Hycross it was chilling inside, we continued our drive towards Hassan. Since it was just noon, we decided to cover Belur and Halebeedu temples as well.

It was about lunch time, we stopped at the Hoysala Village Resort on the outskirts of Hassan. It is a luxury resort located right on Belur road. We had a great lunch at their Kokam restaurant and visited the resort facilities with a guide. Spawning across 7 acres of lush greenery, they have retained lot of old trees, the resort blends heritage with modern luxury.
https://www.hoysalavillageresorts.com/

Belur is about 40kms from Hassan, after the stupendous lunch, we headed towards Belur. Belur and Halebeedu are twin cities located 17 km apart. Hassan-Belur-Halebeedu roads are very bad but Hycross made it like a cake walk. It swallowed potholes like non existing and reminded me of Duster’s magic carpet ride, so I didn’t mis the ride quality, which is most important for me on long drives to keep us fresh and untiring.

Belur and Halebeedu are famous for their Hoysala architecture temples. Belur was previously called Velapuri and Halebeedu was previously called Dwarasamudra and these were at their peak of development during Hoysala ruler Vishnuvardhana`s rule. It took 103 years to complete and Veera Ballala II, the grandson of Vishnuvardhana completed the task itseems.

Velapuri (Belur) was the early capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 11th-century, before they built Dwarasamudra (Halebeedu). The historic Channakeshava temple in Belur is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Hoysaleshwara temple in Halebeedu is dedicated to the god Shiva.

We had some snacks and coffee at Halebeedu and started the return journey to namma Bengaluru. It was almost dark by the time we left Halebeedu. The awesome throw of Hycross head lights made it very comfortable to drive at night. Brightness and throw of headlights were the biggest issue in my previous cars.

Return traffic was moderate, we drove nice and steady, reached Bengaluru a little late after dinner time, so had Domino’s pizza on the way and reached home before midnight.

It was a lovely weekend road trip with awesome places, good terrains to drive, some great food, beautiful company of wife and the mighty Innova Hycross doubled the joy of travel. It was a much needed break, but determined to practice it frequently.

Here is my Hycross ownership review: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post5940836

Wear seat belts and drive safe !!

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Total distance for the trip was 3935 kms !

BHPian rohan_2911 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Coastal Travelogue Part 1 - MUMBAI to FORT TIRACOL (Goa)

Prologue:
Our last road trip was a memorable 2,000 km journey from Mumbai to Jodhpur and back, which included stops in Ahmedabad and Udaipur, and even a camel safari near the Osian, about 50 km from Jodhpur. That trip was done in August 2023, and it had been quite some time since we embarked on a long drive. An opportunity arose when my cousin's wedding was scheduled in September 2024 in Thiruthani (outskirts of Chennai) . This provided the perfect excuse for another road trip from Mumbai, allowing us to attend the wedding and spend time in Pondicherry, where my wife is originally from.

The Plan:
My wife and I had previously completed a long road trip in 2022, driving from Mumbai to Pondicherry and back via the Goa-Karnataka route. This time, I wanted to explore new places we had missed during our last trip. Additionally, my parents had always expressed a desire to visit Coastal Maharashtra, specifically Ratnagiri. Therefore, I planned our first stop to be Ganpatipule for an overnight stay and temple visit before heading towards Ratnagiri. From there, we would head to Goa for about two days with my parents before they flew to Chennai.
However, at the last moment, some relatives were scheduled to visit us in Mumbai. Consequently, we modified our plans so my parents could return home by Tain after visiting Ratnagiri while my wife and I continued further on the road trip. I booked tickets for my parents to fly down to Chennai closer to the wedding.

Since both me and my wife have jobs that allow us to work from home - the thought was to make this into an extended trip where we would take the first week off (when the major part of the road trip would be done) and then take a few leaves here and there before coming back to Mumbai. My brother’s place in Bangalore would also serve as a very strategic pit stop enroute!

By my rough estimates this was going to be a > 3500 km road trip and I would be doing ALL of the driving.

The Preparation
The vehicle had already been serviced in May. I had to get the rear right brake lights replaced and also top up the engine oil as well as the coolant which was done. I was also monitoring the tyre pressures closely in the weeks leading up to the road trip and I noticed that the front left tyre was deflating at a faster rate and when I got it checked there indeed was a puncture which was fixed promptly. It had also been close to 2 years since the purchase the car and I was aware that the batteries in The key FOB would be at the end of life so I replaced the battery in the main key that we had and had a spare battery handy for the spare key which my wife had in her purse (more on this later).

Replacing the Key Fob Battery ; Getting the puncture fixed

Day 1 (30th August) (Mumbai - Ganpatipule) :
We started from Mumbai at around 0730 in the Morning of the 30th of August - we were a bit delayed as I had to use all my Tetris skills to make sure all of the luggage fit in the boot since the rear seat was going to be occupied by my parents The first stop for breakfast was at Go Green restaurant near Karnala - it had rained a little and I was very disappointed to see that the sides of the car was already covered in fine mud.

Pantree restaurant at Go Green - You can see the car covered in fine mud spray. Pictures on the right show the weather and drive along NH66

The drive towards Ratnagiri was on NH66 which was a refreshing change from the usual route taken when heading towards Goa (Mum - Pune expressway) - since it was just the end of monsoon season - the surroundings were lush green which made for a pleasant drive
We reached Chiplun around 1:30 -2 pm - we were searching for a good place to eat and finally ate lunch at a restaurant called Swad about 50 kms south of Chiplun.

Left: Parked at Swad, The Thali; Right: Ride along NH66 and Stopped by a cop to check my paperwork and to see whether I had some fines pending

Post lunch we crossed the River Bav at the Parchuri bridge - the location was quite remote and scenic and we stopped to click some photos.

The car parked over the Parchuri Bridge

Some more pictures of the drive from the dash cam

Thereafter there was a slight incline on the road and we actually passed over a tunnel that was a part of the Konkan railway followed by a drive on a plateau region on top of the hill. Finally the coast came into view and we descended towards Ganpatiphule.

We had chosen to stay in a Beachside Hut which was a part of the MTDC resort at Ganpatipule . I was surprised to see how big the MTDC property was - I had to drive for a few minutes to reach the Beachside hut from the entrance of the property. By the time we had settled into the hut it was already around 5 pm. We spent the next few hours by the beachside and soon it was time for dinner.

Car at the entrance of the MTDC Resort, Ganapatiphule

Picture of the drive , car parked at the resort and the beach

I wanted to eat in one of the many eateries near the Ganpatipule temple but my wife had other plans and insisted we go to a restaurant that she had found on Instagram - the restaurant was called Mehendale's Swad Dining which was about 3 kms from the resort.

Cows on the narrow road leading out from Ganapatiphule

Dinner Thali at Mehendale's Swad Dining - easily the best thali we had on the entire trip

Day 2 (31st August) :

We went to the Ganpatipule temple early in the morning and then had a simple breakfast in one of the small roadside hotels surrounding the temple

It was then time to check out and head towards Ratnagiri.

The beachside huts at the resort , me with my Wife and parents

Left: Entrance to the temple; The temple

The drive was on the scenic Arrey Warrey road - I’ll let pictures that we clicked from one of the viewpoints do the talking

The Drive towards Arrey Warrey Road - you are driving along the coast with the sea to your right - there are numerous 'view points' with small shacks serving food

The view from one of the 'view points'

I had my eye on the Arrey Warrey Zipline for quite some time - this is a 400 mtr zipline over the sea. Here, it was by sheer coincidence that I bumped into one of my childhood friends who also happened to live in my apartment complex in Mumbai ! He was with some of his friends in another Skoda Kushaq (yet another coincidence) driving from Ratnagiri to Ganpatiphule while I was going the opposite way.

So me, my wife, my Mom and my friend rode the zipline. Now - I had already done the zipline at Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur - but this 400 mtr zipline over the sea was a different and thrilling experience. We were ferried back to the starting point by an activa that the zipline operator had for this purpose.

The silver Skoda Kushaq driven by me friend ; My Wife, Me and My Mom on the Zipline

Next stop was the Ratnadurg fort in Ratnagiri - where we could see a rolling mass of clouds heading straight for us - it was surreal to be in an area that is dry and see the approaching rainfront , and in a few minutes the rain was upon us. It rained quite heavily for about 10-15 minutes and then the rain front passed further inland. One advantage of this burst of rain was that it gave the car a free and thorough wash !

Top : The entrance to the Ratnadurg Fort ; Bottom : Rain clouds moving towards us

It was already about 1:30 pm and we were quite hungry - so I found a good restaurant in Ratnagiri and had our lunch.

Some pictures from my dash cam, Top Right shows the car parked on Narrow lanes opposite the restaurant where we had our lunch

My parents were supposed to catch the Madgaon - LTT express from Ratnagiri to Mumbai at 5 pm so we had about 2.5 hrs at our disposal. We visited the Thibaw Palace in Ratnagiri next. King Thibaw was a burmese king who was forced by the British to abdicate his throne and then coerced to move to Ratnagiri around the year 1885. The British built an official residence for the king in 1906 which was the Thibaw palace. The palace was built of lava and laterite rock and cost about 125000 Indian rupees at that time. Although we were not allowed to click pictures inside the Palace, I did manage to get a wonderful shot of the car with the palace in the backdrop.

My Car with the Thibaw Palace in the background

It was already about 3:30 pm and we started driving towards the Ratnagiri Railway station. There was construction work going around the approach Road to the station so we had to park the car and then walk towards the platform. The train was delayed by about 45-50 minutes, so I located the correct coach position and since it was getting quite late me and my wife then proceeded towards Goa.

Left : Ratnagiri Railway Station ; A random beautiful spot with small temple along the shores of a mini waterfall - we didn't have time to dip into the water unfortunately

Goa was about 270 kms away and I did not want to exhaust myself driving all the way there - so we planned to stop at Devgad which was about 130 kms away. We booked a place to stay (Aalayah Stays) as we were driving. This place was a container hotel - basically they had transformed shipping containers into rooms where each room was made up of 2 containers placed side by side.

It was already past 8 pm when we reached Devgad. I took some time to reorganise the luggage in the car till Dinner arrived. We had dinner and slept off by 10 pm.

Day 3 (1st September) :

We woke up by 6:30 - 0700 the next day, had some tea with a nice view of the Kunkeshwar Beach, checked out the hotel and the surroundings now that we had daylight.

The approach to 'Aalayah stays' at night ;few shots of the container hotel room; the hotel is on a cliff overlooking the beach ; the car with the luggage being reorganized

Just a few kms into the drive we stumbled upon the Kunkeshwar Temple - a temple situated right at the coast. We visited the temple - it was fairly early on a weekday ( 0900) so there were hardly any people present. I will again let the pictures do the talking

Car parked along the shore at Kunkeshwar temple

The small eateries that were present near the periphery of the temple were just opening up and we had VadaPav and Misal Pav from one of them - it was just heavenly to eat spicy fast food sitting at the edge of a beach and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the rocky shore

My wife standing in front of the temple entrance ; Spicy Wada Pav and Misal Pav ; The road leading to the temple

Some pictures of the drive along the narrow roads of coastal Maharashtra ; we also came across the Sindhdurg Airport on a nice flat area near the Tarkarli beach

Continuing our journey and searching for other places of interest on Google maps I stumbled upon a ‘Dutch Factory’ that was located in Vengurla. However, on visiting the site we found out that it was closed for renovation by the ASI.

Some pictures from the drive ; Right : Car parked in Vengurla in a random housing complex near the closed Dutch Factory

At this point we were only about 4 km away from the Maharashtra- Goa border and our first stop in Goa was ‘Fort Tiracol’ which is located in Querim and is also the northernmost point of Goa.

Entering Goa - the police check post at the border of the Querim Village

Fort Tiracol is a Portuguese fort and dates back to the 17th Century - the fort has a very rich history behind it and was a part of several skirmishes - most notably it was also the symbolic location where freedom fighters from Goa (after India’s independence) would demonstrate from time to time and protest against the Portuguese. At present the fort has been converted into a heritage hotel with a few rooms and a restaurant. There is also a quaint little chapel inside the fort. Our initial plan was to stay overnight at the heritage hotel, but we decided against it as booking it at the last moment would be quite expensive.

The monument to the Goan freedom fighters beside the entrance ; The entrance to the Hotel

The chapel inside Fort Tiracol

The fort is open for visitors to explore - which is what we did and also had our lunch in the restaurant. We had a splendid view as the fort is located on a hill just at the mouth of the Terekhol River and the Querim beach was on the opposite bank.

Lunch at Tiracol Hotel

View From the Lunch Table at Fort Tiracol

END OF PART 1 . . .

Continue reading BHPian rohan_2911's travelogue for more insights and information.

Total distance covered was about 7500 KMS, got an overall fuel efficiency of 11.67 km/L.

BHPian gypsyFreak recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

After my last Ladakh drive in 2016, I had always dreamt of going back to Ladakh again to drive on the wonderful roads of Hanle.

Since then, life moved on. I changed jobs and careers; my daughter came in while I lost my mother. COVID came and went during which I spent about 4 years in WFH, which gave time to research and plan extensively for Ladakh trip.

In 2021, I bought a RE Himalayan with the idea of riding to Ladakh and toured all over Karnataka to adjusted to the bike.

Until 2024, I was fully busy sorting out issues and problems in different areas of my life and I did not get an opportunity to even think of a drive to Ladakh. However, in mid-2024, circumstances changed which gave me time to finally start putting down concrete plans.

The initial plan was to travel in the end of Aug 2024, I reached out to friends and relatives looking for some travel companions. Nobody responded positively, few were busy while others had different travel plans.

Since I was mostly going to travel alone, I decided to drive instead of ride which meant Kariya would be doing his second Ladakh trip. For the masses, Kariya is my 2012 Scorpio LX 4WD.

With the vehicle finalized, I began preparing Scorpio. The odo reading 1,79,512 I knew it would be a challenge to take the Scorpio on such a demanding trip and that too alone.

The following services were done:

• Full service done at FNG. Oil changed to AMSOIL Signature 5w40.
• Tyres changed to Bridgestone Dueller AT002 in stock size. Spare tyre checked and repaired (it was never touched in about 4 years)
• Battery changed to Exide 85Ah
• Brake pads changed
• 2wd & 4wd Gear oil changed, differential oil changed, drive shaft greased.
• Upgraded headlight to Osram 50W Warm White LED bulbs.

With Dasara vacations in October my daughter and wife were going to hometown for a week which left me alone in Bangalore. I thought this was the time for the trip and decided to start on Oct 6th.

A final round of connects with family and friends did not yield any companions, so it was going to be a solo trip. Somehow, I felt happy within, maybe I prefer to travel alone and travel my way without any dependencies.

With the date finalized, it was time for final preparations. I put an air bed, folding chair, mat, portable stove, groceries, 50-liter Bisleri can, car spares into the Scorpio. Bought 2 fuel cans each of 20L to carry diesel. All these and my clothes for 15 days covered the entire floor area in Scorpio. I did not keep anything on the seats, as I wanted to keep it empty so that the seats could be folded down and the air bed can be quickly put on top to form a queen size bed.

The plan was to do a circle starting from Srinagar side and return via Manali highway. To reach Srinagar, I would be driving 6 am to 8 pm every day and check-in to a room in nearest town. My daughter left to hometown on Oct 6th, wife was finishing her work and was scheduled to leave on Tuesday. I planned to start on 6 am on Sunday, filled diesel into the Scorpio and 20L fuel cans on Saturday night, everything was packed and Kariya was ready. Usually, I wouldn't get sleep if I am travelling the next day, but surprisingly I slept well. Woke up at 5 am, performed morning duties, got ready and said a simple goodbye to my wife and started. It was a very simple bye without realizing the magnitude of the solo journey I was about to start. Maybe she had confidence that I would return safely or she did not want to mood spoiler at the begining itself. Nevertheless, it was a good start.

Day 1: Bangalore, KA to Malegaon, MH. 1050 KMS, ~14 hours

Started at 6 am, went to the next-door Shell petrol bunk and filled air pressure to 34 PSI, got valve caps for all 4 tyres, tipped the attendant and started. This was the only check I did for the tyres in the entire trip, they performed beautifully without a single skid or wheelspin anywhere. Road, offroad, concrete, sand, snow, ice, gravel, loose stones, steel plates everything the tyres gobbled up without any issue.

Google maps my trusty companion started acting wierdly on the Android player. It used to exit automatically after few mins. I tried Android auto on my two phones, unfortunately both did not connect. Wired/Wireless AA, nothing worked. I thought what a start, being solo I had limited options. Finally, I uninstalled Google Maps and installed 2020 version of Google Maps. It worked flawlessly throughout the trip. With Navigation sorted out, I could focus on the road and reached Vijayapura bypass by 2 pm with a quick breakfast stop at a roadside stall.
The route I had planned was via Pandharpur, Shirdi as I wanted to avoid night driving in Kannad Ghat. I enquired about Pandharpur Road condition at IOC petrol bunk, who advised against it. But I still went ahead, which turned out to be a wrong decision and wasted time and effort. From Vijayapur up to Manmad it was bad roads - undivided highway, divided 4 lanes with bad road surface, local traffic and rains made driving a pain. I cursed myself for taking this route, but somehow continued. From Manmad, took left towards Chandwad and joined Nashik - Dhule highway. I had planned to reach Dhule for the night but was feeling tired. So, after a sumptuous Biryani at Malegaon, went to a Jio-BP bunk to tank up. Was feeling very sleepy, asked them I can rest a while, they obliged. After filling diesel, parked the car and prepared the bed. The air bed was ready in about 10 mins and I was in deep sleep within next 10 mins. I had rolled up all windows, locked the car and just kept the butterfly windows open for ventilation.

My bed inside Kariya

Day 2: Malegaon, MH to Bundi, RJ. 680 KMs, ~9 hours

Got up feeling refreshed at 5 am. Utilized the washroom at the petrol bunk to freshen up and hit the road by 6 am. Roads were good from Malegaon onwards. Entered MP and encountered humps at almost every village. I could feel that the brakes were not sharp. At some humps I had to go over the humps at speed as Kariya was not slowing down despite braking hard. There was no tyre skidding as well, so I assumed that the brakes might have caught some dust/gravel and might need cleaning. With upcoming NE4 and other expressway, I thought it would be safe to get the brakes checked and then proceed. So, I looked up Google and found a Mahindra Service Centre at Ratlam bypass which is exactly on my route.
Reached MASS by 10.30 am and explained my issue to the service manager. He was kind enough to quickly assign a technician despite heavy load of cars there. After a test drive, the technician said the brakes seemed normal, but nevertheless, he will check and clean the. It took a while to open a job card and for the technician to start work. The front brake pads were good, they were cleaned and scrubbed with sandpaper and put back. The rear brake liners were found to be worn out at the edges, resulting in reduced contact with brake drum, reducing the effectiveness of the brakes. Although they still had life in them, I got them changed with new ones which improved the braking performance. Got the air filter cleaned and technician cleaned the MAF as well. Kariya was now ready, but billing was delayed as it was lunch time. Completed the billing and went next door to a private wash centre and got the exterior and underbody washed. With everything back in top condition, it was already 5 pm, I decided to drive on till 10 pm and then halt for the night.
From Ratlam, I entered the NE4 and wide 4 lanes with very sparse traffic encouraged me maintain a constant 120 KMPH. At these speeds, the fuel needle started moving towards E. I stopped on the side of the highway to fill up diesel from the 2 cans. Never thought this would be such complex task. As I started pouring the diesel from the can into the funnel, it would go out of position and diesel would spill everywhere.
I thought, so much for solo travelling, I wanted someone to hold the funnel in place. On the expressway there were no cars and no people. Even the occasional cars were doing 100+ and did not bother to stop. I planned to wave down a truck and get help from the trucker, but unfortunately not a single truck came. I decided to take matters in my own hands, i remembered i had packed a brown packaging tape. So took it out and taped the funnel tightly to the tank mouth and then poured the diesel. Lifting and holding 20+ KGs for 10 mins turned out to be very tiring. Finally, it worked and, in the end, I wasted by 500 ml of diesel and hands were smelly. Had soap and water and was able to wash off the smell and hit the road again.
Roads improved drastically from Kota bypass onwards and i was near Bundi around 10 pm. Had dinner at a Dhaba and drove on till 11 pm. Started feeling sleepy, so pulled over at IOC bunk and sleeping on the bed in about 20 mins. Having the butterfly windows open did not help, as the weather was hot and humid. I started the engine and ran the AC in lowest setting and slept.

Day 3: Bundi, RJ to Sissu, HP. 1000KMs, ~16 hours

Woke up at 5 am expecting to see huge movement of fuel needle, but was surprised by how little fuel was consumed (maybe 3-4 litres). Packed up the bed and realized that there was no water the washroom of the bunk. Used Bisleri water to freshen up and then i was on the road by 6 am.

The initial plan was to take the Zoji La route to Kargil and Zanskar. But few calls to home and work changed the plan. Credit to Trans-Haryana highway, such good roads, very less traffic and plenty of time to think and plan. Although some might feel bored, but for a tiring traveller such expressways are a wonderful way to relax and introspect.
So, plans were made on the go. Enquired about road condition of Manali - Leh highway and bookings for stay were made at Sissu. Did not plan stay at Manali as i wanted to gain some altitude in order acclimatize for the days ahead.
Google maps took me through Derra Bassi & Chandigarh which i felt could have been avoided if Shambu border blockage was cleared. Tanked up at Rupnagar and also filled up the 20 Liter cans blissfully forgot about the fuel embargo in Atal tunnel.
Pleasantly surprised by the tolled highway up to Sunder Nagar. Although speed limit says 60 KMPH, i realized that it's not sectional speed limit, still wondered why put so many speed cameras. Traffic was quite less probably because it was late in the day and season was closing. Reached Manali around 8.30 pm, wasn't tired so kept driving towards Sissu. There was zero traffic beyond Manali towards Sissu, except for few trucks mine was the only car on road. I guess the hills shutdown soon after sunset. I could see that Hotels were still open, so i was emboldened to continue on. Reached Sissu hotel by 10 pm and that's when the cold hit me. I checked in, had simple dinner for white rice, dal and omelette and slept. The next day is where the adventure starts.

Day 4: Sissu, HP to Padum, Zanskar, Ladakh. 190 KMs, ~8 hours

Woke up in the morning to realize i was in the Himalayas, surrounded by towering peaks.

View from my room

Changed into winter clothing and started from Hotel around 7 am. Reached Keylong and tanked up Kariya, although i had fuel in cans, i wanted to fill up so that some amount of anti-freeze gets into the tank. Next, was to have breakfast. Found a nice hotel by the Bhaga river and had parottas and tea.

From here on, i decided to take it slowly allowing myself to get acclimatized. Started daily doses of Diamox. This was more of a preventive measure to avoid AMS. One of the virtues of travelling solo is that you can't afford to fall sick. I had taken Jio postpaid from Bangalore which was put into action here. Made calls to my family back home informing about my whereabouts and lack of connectivity from here on.

The weather was very pleasant. It was bright, sunny and clear blue skies. Looks like it was the right time too head into the mountains and fortunately for me it stayed like this throughout my drive in the Himalayas.

Pretty soon reached Darcha and went straight-on towards Shinku La. The road is almost complete and fully tarred except for few places where it was being re-laid, absolutely no problem for Kariya. I was in Shinku La top in no time. Hopped out of Kariya, took some snaps and felt the chill of the wind and hopped back into Kariya and turned on the heater.

Kariya - my Scorpio at Shinku La

Climbed down Shinku La and headed towards Gonbo Rangjon, there were few tents still there which were mostly empty, i did not stop there and just kept driving admiring the beauty and solitude of Gonbo Rongjon in Kariya's mirrors. The road was mostly good with few dusty patches, traffic was quite less and everyone i encountered were travelling in their own pace, stopping for photos and admiring the nature.

One of the many attempts to get a highway wallpaper for my phone

I was stopped at a check post and had enter my details. This was the first of many curios questions on why i was travelling alone and that too from such a far distance. Some thought i was great to be doing this alone and some said i should have some company for safety (more on this later..).
Nevertheless, i carried on, enjoying my solitude and my drive.

In the last couple of years, i had spent countless hours researching routes across Ladakh. I was especially interested in the routes into Zanskar, i could remember myself going over google maps satellite view and looking at the road from Darcha to Padum, had even reached out to BRO enquiring about Shinku La tunnel. Now, all the research was now paying fruits.

Made a lot of stops awestruck by the landscape and trying to take as many wallpapers as possible.

That's me and my Kariya

That's my ride..

By 3 pm i reached Padum, i knew i would not be able to carry on till Leh and looked for a hotel. The main street in Padum was being re-laid so, it was very dusty. It was getting very cold and looking at the locals, i wanted to cover much tighter, so bought a pair of fleece gloves, neck warmer and a headcap. Googled for an accommodation and got a nice deal at Hotel Omasila for Rs 1500/- with buffet breakfast and dinner. As it was getting cold, i knew the night would be even colder so bought a small heater and put it to good use through out the trip. The food was good and called it a night. Tomorrow i had plan to reach Leh, but was told that the shortest route via Chilling and Nimmoo was open only on Sunday and Wednesday, tomorrow was neither so i had to take the longer route via Singe La and Sirsir La. With this plan i hit the bed soon.

Day 5: Padum to Leh, 300KMs ~8 hours

After a good sleep woke up fresh and took a hot bath. Night temperatures had gone down to single digit, cranked up Kariya and he started after a long crank, coughing up few times and then settling to idle RPM. Dusted the Scorpio with the ever-efficient Jopasu duster and Kariya was ready for upcoming photo-ops. Breakfast was ready at 7:30 am, and after a heavy breakfast i left the homestay by 8:30 am.

As i rolled out of Padum, i began retrospection. Thought why i have taken so much trouble to drive to Ladakh into this country of cold and dust. I was feeling tired and lonely, maybe i should head back, No i thought, let me carry on and finish what i started. Soon, i was on the banks of Zanskar river, that's where the beauty of raw and untamed Zanskar hit me. With a clear blue sky, sun shining bright the landscape was surreal. I feel happy and joyful whenever there is clear blue sky, without a spec of a cloud. Call me paranoid or what, but seeing such clear skies lifts my mood. The road was newly laid which also made the drive a pleasant experience. I had stop and soak myself in the moment and that's what i did for the next half an hour. Just breathing the fresh morning air, clicking pictures of surroundings and testing with my phone's zoom.

Parked overnight

Living my dream ... just me and my Scorpio in Zanskar

My only weapon for photography was my phone - Samsung S22 Ultra and it was good, especially 10x optical zoom.

One of very distant peaks

With optical zoom

Up close

Picture perfect desktop wallpaper

Another mobile wallpaper

A Majestic hill or mountain?

More vistas by the river

Yours truly

One of those moments where nature gives you a fresh dose of energy when you are about to give-up. With this renewed energy, i decided to complete the entire trip no matter what comes up.

Continue reading BHPian gypsyFreak's travelogue for more insights and information.

We drove down to the city in our car just to have a meal at a very specific cafe that my brother told us about.

BHPian ashis89 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

A dinner at Moorthy Cafe

After returning from Hyderabad on Wednesday, I did a quick 800 km weekend trip to Pondicherry-Chidambaram and back.

My co-brother has spent a lot of his childhood in Chidambaram. The foodies that we family are, he has always told us stories about Moorthy Cafe, a small restaurant in the town which is heaven for the taste buds. So much so that when me and my wife had been to Tranquebar in 2023, we took a detour to Chidambaram to have lunch there. Alas, the place was closed on the day we went and we were left disappointed. Then brother suggested that we go over a weekend to check out Moorthy Cafe. That plan had been brewing over months and regularly stirred up by him. It was brought up again last week and we all took the plunge. Booked a night's stay in Pondy (the family wanted a visit to the French town as well) on Friday and we were set to start on Saturday.

Picked up my brother and family by 7AM and we left. Per Google's suggestion, we took the Sarjapur-Attibelle road and then Krisnagiri-Tiruvannamalai-Gingee-Tindivanam-Pondicherry. One breakfast break at Murugan Idli and then we reached White Town by 1PM. After a rather heavy breakfast, we chose to skip lunch and retired for a quick afternoon nap.

Street parking in White Town. Feels good to be able to see your car from your room

The hotel was setup at an old French building and had some interesting furniture

Most buildings around have a similar minimalistic and yet beautiful look

Then started again at 4:30PM for Chidambaram. We took the new road which bypasses Cuddalore and it was a smooth drive. First, we went to the Thillai Nataraja temple. We were right on time and got to witness the evening arati. Then we spent some more time there before stepping out.

Then at 7:30PM we went to Moorthy Cafe. The place is near the West gate of the temple and a 5-minute drive. Having arrived early, I was expecting it to be empty but boy was I wrong! Most of the tables were occupied and by 8PM, the place was packed.

Finally!

The local boy placed all the orders and the rest of us just waited in anticipation. Kadhai Chicken, full fried chicken pakoda, Fish 65, parotta and some brownie later, we are converts now. That driving down for a meal at Moorthy Cafe is one of the best ways to spend the weekend!

The Kadhai chicken and the parotta combo were too good!

Just too full, drove back to Pondy and reached by 10:20PM. While everyone crawled into the beds, I walked over to the beach nearby and spent half an hour strolling along it.

End of day 1

Street smart!

Next morning, woke up leisurely and got ready. After checking out and loading our bags in the car, we walked down to the Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar temple. After returning, we had some of the famous hibiscus tea, the lemon paneer soda and then drove away.

For lunch, we couldn't figure out a good option on the way and ended up entering Tiruvannamalai to dine at Darling Namma Veedu restaurant. It was late, my nephew was hungry and impatient. And yet when we reached the place, there was a huge queue of people waiting for a table. 20 mins later, we got a table, 35 mins later we got our meals, biryani, sodas and ice cream. An hour and a half later, we were back on the road. Rear passengers were busy sleeping, brother was tracking the Ind-NZ match which I punched through the busy highway.

Last break was near Hosur, for some karupatti coffee, gulkand butter bun and rose milk. Retraced the Attibele-Sarjapur road again and reached home by 7PM after dropping off my brother's family.

One tankful of diesel had lasted from Shadnagar to Bangalore to Pondicherry, returning 18.32 kmpl over 835 kms. Next one is half used up after to & fro to Chidambaram and returning to Bangalore.

Sun was shining bright almost through the trip. Yet everyone sat and slept peacefully without any discomfort. Even walking into the car when it was parked under the sun for long, my wife could feel Coyote wasn't as hot/warm as she had expected. The verdict was unanimous, the film was an expensive investment but was doing an impressive job. I realized I could drive on a bright afternoon without desperately looking for my sunglasses. But I also felt my headlight to be weaker than earlier and a slight glare from oncoming traffic on single undivided roads. I am hoping to get used to it.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

This place is incredibly scenic in the monsoons, when the hills and the valleys are lush green and the weather is magical. However, this trail become extremely tricky and challenging in the monsoon

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Shola Heights (location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t7WqRmkep63Hgyhh9) is a famous homestay in the offroading circuit. This is located atop a hill, overlooking the majestic Kudremukh Peak (one of the iconic mountain peaks in Karnataka, and a popular place for hiking and mountaineering). In fact, the homestay owner mentioned this is the highest homestay in Karnataka! A nice high altitude place overlooking scenic valleys and mountains all around! This being the highest and the last house on that hill, if offers both a vantage viewpoint as well as total seclusion from the rest of the world.

While the homestay itself is beautiful and a great place for sure, the reason this place is famous in the offroading circuit is because it can only be reached by a 6km of treacherous hill climb on a dirt track where only 4x4 vehicles can ply! Even with a 4x4 vehicle, this trail offers enough challenges and fun, and is a sought after trail for offroading. Rarely do you get a chance to do proper offroading, that too for full 6km, just to reach the place of stay! That is indeed a USP of this place!

For those not going there for offroading, the homestay offers a secure parking space below the hills, where the normal road ends. You can park there and the homestay team will pick you up in the their own 4x4 vehicle. However, most offroading enthusiasts drive up in their own 4x4s, and that drive is often the biggest motivation to visit this place.

This place is incredibly scenic in the monsoons, when the hills and the valleys are lush green and the weather is magical. However, this trail become extremely tricky and challenging in the monsoon. One needs a good support and rescue team to attempt this in the peak monsoon. On the other hand, in this dry month of March, the trail is not that difficult - it is easy enough for a solo traveler, and yet difficult enough to have some good offroading adventure - just the perfect combination for solo offroading.

I love solo drives, as evident from many of my solo travelogues, but solo off-roading is something that one rarely gets to do. Offroading is usually a group activity because of the support (spotting and other help) and rescue requirements. With the point mentioned above, I thought this trail in March would offer me that rare solo offroading opportunity, and I decided to give it a shot on a weekend. Thankfully, it turned out that the conditions were perfect for a solo offroader. Not too difficult a trail where I would need to be rescued, and yet difficult enough to offer me some adrenaline rush and some scary moments. A nice mix of fun and adventure without being too risky!

In this dry month, the main challenge in the trail is that it is full of loose and slippery soil and gravel, and offers very low traction on the steep slopes. Most of the trail is steep slope (it is a good amount of climbing), and some of the sharp hair-pin bends, combined with steep slope, and the loose gravel can become tricky. One needs a 4x4H in the entire trail even when this is dry, and for sure would need 4x4L in the monsoon when this is wet and there is plenty of mud. I climbed the entire trail in 4x4H. I did some driving around the homestay too after reaching there, and it was all in 4x4H. Thus, once I exited the "normal" roads below the hills and started climbing, I had 4H engaged throughout, for the entire weekend, till I got down to the main road the next day!

Given that the homestay is only reachable by that 6 km of treacherous 4x4 trail, the homestay owner described it aptly that it is almost like an island of its own! You are totally cut off from the rest of the world, except for that one link that is that offroad trail. The homestay itself depends 100% on their own 4x4 vehicle (a Mahindra Bolero Camper 4x4) for their survival there. There is just no other option, and no other way.

I loved this concept and the experience! In my entire hill climb to and from the homestay, as well as my local wanderings there on the hills, I did not see any other vehicle, or any other human being other than the homestay owner and the staff. Absolutely alone and secluded time in the hills, and I loved it so much! Just me, my Thar, those scenic mountains and views all around, and that treacherous trail to drive around. Exactly the poetic experience that every 4x4 owner desires to have. I am thankful to this place for offering me that experience!

The drive from Bangalore to Samse, the town where you exit the normal roads and start this hill climb, is about 6 hours drive. The last 100km of the roads, from Sakleshpur to Samse (via Mudigere and Kalasa) is a scenic forest route, with dense forest, green hills and ghats. Even in these summer months, this drive was quite nice and scenic.

However, the biggest fun starts after you exit the tarred roads, and start driving on the trail leading to Shola Heights.

For me, the challenge started with finding the right trail in the first place. Turns out there are two trails to reach this place. The most commonly used is a 6km long trail, and there is another one that is shorter (about 4.5km long), but steeper and much narrower. Google Maps by default gives this shorter trail. However, even worse, it does not show the trail accurately. In general, Google Maps in this area are off by about 200m, and in the hills, that makes them useless. Google Maps wrongly showed that trail at a point where nothing existed, and when I joined the actual trail, it was the longer one (6km long). That was still fine! But now the problem was that Google Maps does not know this trail, and for the entire duration, the maps became useless.

I spotted a couple of old boards of Shola Heights initially, but later they disappeared, and for a long time I kept on wondering if I was on the right trail. So there I was, enjoying my off-roading, tackling the trail in 4x4H, enjoying the views all around, but still a bit nervous that I might actually be lost! Thankfully, and surprisingly, the phone connection worked throughout, and I called the homestay owner a couple of times to describe where I was and used his guidance to find the path forward.

Before I describe the rest, let me mention that my vehicle for this was my beloved "Dusty", my Thar 4x4! Dusty enjoyed this as much as I did. It was these kind of experiences for which I bought the Thar 4x4 in the first place, and I was so glad I was able to do justice to that.

"Dusty", my Thar 4x4, on the trail to Shola Heights:

Most of the trail is dry and dusty (in these summer months), and full of loose soil and gravel. The trail is very steep and slippery. The pictures do not show the slope at all. The pictures make it all look flat. But believe me, the trail was so steep that even walking up and down on the trail was tricky.

The slippery and steep slopes that pictures fail to capture:

One more reason why I loved this trail so much is because in addition to offering a good 4x4 experience, the trail is also very scenic! It is not some boring, artificially created track for the sake of offroading. It is a natural hill path with scenic hills and views and all around. Those landscape views were the icing on the cake for me.

I enjoyed stopping, getting out and looking at such views from the trail:

Although most of the trail is dry and dusty, there is a section where it goes through thick trees, and passes a stream. It was a nice shaded area there, with a canopy of trees covering the trail. The stream was dry now, and apart from a small puddle of water, there was no water. In fact, there are two stream crossings in this 6km long trail, but both of them were dry in this month.

At a stream crossing (which was dry now):

One more photo of Dusty on this trail:

The sharp hairpin bends, with steep climb, were at times a bit tricky. The Thar would not turn that sharply in one go, and I had to take 3-point turns. And when I tried to reverse in those maneuvers, in the middle of the slope (and now reverse would mean I am going downslope), the car would just slide on the loose gravel and steep downslope. I had to stomp on the brakes to stop it, and had a couple of scary moments. I learnt my lesson and later tried to go wide and drive the outside wheel out of the trail just to avoid taking 3-point turns. That turned to be a much better strategy than trying to reverse in the middle of the slope.

Views of the trail and the mountains in the mirror:

As I climbed up, the views in my windshield near the top of the hill:

After enjoying that hill climb, stopping at numerous places to enjoy the landscape views, taking my time, and yet feeling nervous all the time thinking if I was lost, finally I reached the homestay at the very top of the hill.

Arrived, with a sudden view of this beautiful house, after wondering whether I was lost:

This is the house:

I was the only guest in the homestay that day, as has been the case in some of my recent trips, for example, this stay in Konkan. Maybe because I pick these off-beat places, and go there in the off-season, and that too not on any major holidays, I usually find myself the lone guest there.

Dusty being alone there, got this nice parking space:

This homestay is indeed a very unique place. I had a great time there. However, this is a very basic place. The room was as basic as it gets. It was very clean and comfortable, but very basic. The room had just simple cots and a fan (no AC), a clean but again very simple bathroom, and that is it. There are a total of 5 such simple rooms in the house. And there is a common dining area where they serve homemade fresh meals. Everything was clean and comfortable, but as basic as it gets. No luxuries or special amenities anywhere.

However, what makes this homestay so special was the amazing location, the breathtaking views all around, the feeling of isolation and seclusion, the feeling of adventure, and above all, the fantastic team. The owners, Mr. Abhinandan and Mr. Kumar were both there and they were very friendly, polite and nice. We chatted a lot and became friends. And the staff was very good too. They cooked some delicious food, snacks, tea and coffee. Their hospitality and friendliness made me feel right at home there.

After that delicious lunch, and some rest, I headed out again in the evening for the trails, and exploring sunset views.

Dusty heading out in the evening for sunset trails:

Crossing another dry stream:

I parked and climbed a small hill to take this photo:

View of the trail in the evening light:

View of a distant tree on that hill, and the other trail passes by that tree:

As I mentioned, I was there not for offroading for the sake of offroading. But I was there to explore the views and enjoy the landscapes, and I got plenty of opportunities for that.

Sunset in the dry hills:

The dry grass against the backdrop of the mountains:

View of one of the steep hairpin bends against the sun:

View of the trail at sunset:

Finally, a shot of Dusty on that trail at sunset:

After enjoying this sunset trail and the views, I came back to the house and had a great sleep that night.

Continue reading BHPian Dr.AD's post for more insights and information.

We booked a homestay whose location was insanely pretty and scenic, especially for us city people. It's located in the middle of acres tea plantations.

BHPian Electricpig recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Intro

The point of this trip was to say goodbye to my sister, who will be going abroad for higher studies. A sort of a last dance before she leaves. We live in Bangalore and our criteria for the destination were as follows:

• Drive should be less than 8 hours.
• Off-beat/Not a crowded tourist spot.

We were looking at:

• Kodai
• Wayanad(Canned for obvious reasons)
• Coonoor
• Ooty
• Gokarna
• Varkala
• Vagamon

Finally decided that Coonoor/Kotagiri fit our criteria and started looking at home stay options. Found a place in Coonoor-Ghar homestay Coonoor that was away from the main town. More on that later.

Day 1

The plan was to start from home at 4:30 a.m. on the 15th August. Surprisingly, we were only 20 minutes behind schedule, and ended up leaving at 4:50. Crazy traffic at 5:10 near Hudson circle/KR Market.

Cleared the traffic and finally hit the Mysore expressway at 6.

Stopped at one Hari Govindas for Coffee, after the expressway. Nice spot and very good filter coffee.

Some photos from Bandipur/Mudumallai:

On exiting Mudumallai, we were asked to stop and register for a Nilgiris E-Pass. We didn't have to pay anything, but no idea what the point was, since we were never asked to show the pass at any point during the trip.

After Mudumallai, we started the 36 hairpin bends to Ooty within an hour or so.

These mist-covered mountains

We stopped for lunch at one Thalssery restaurant in Ooty, which was on the way to our homestay. I doubt if this restaurant is actually a part of the Thalssery chain. Food was okay. Deserted restaurant. 5/10.

We finally reached the homestay around 3 p.m. The location is insanely beautiful and scenic, especially for us city people. It's located in the middle of acres upon acres of tea plantations.

Sharing some pics from the numerous walks we took around the place.

Day 2

Today, we were supposed to take the toy train that goes from Coonoor to Ketti. However, IRCTC randomly cancelled the train at the last minute so we made alternate plans. First on the agenda was to visit an RC church, say our prayers, and then carry on. After some searching in the Coonoor town, we came to St. Anthony's church, a beautiful and cosy church on a hill top.

From the church, we set out in search of Filter Coffee, a rare commodity in Coonoor (Only instant coffee). In search of our coffee, we had the opportunity to walk through Coonoor's "shortcuts" - flights of stairs that run literally through the city.

The stairs:

Some sights of Coonoor:

After Sim's park, we had lunch at a dosa joint (It had strawberry and dry fruit dosa, and gave us a kallu dosa for Uthappam). This restaurant was on Bedford Road... and as it turned out, Bedford Road had quiet a few interesting places to explore. We checked out one 'Gaia pottery store', a handicraft store which occupied a beautiful house.

Continue reading about Electricpig's road trip for BHPian comments, insights and more information.