We went to IBW next day after late lunch. IBW location was around 80kms from the hotel and took almost 2 hours.

BHPian Rahulkool recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hotel in Goa was good, we checked in at mid night, the hotel staff were very helpful and polite. Only issue was that there was no kitchen was in the hotel but quite a few restaurants around.

I have only these two photographs of the hotel.

We went to IBW next day after late lunch. IBW location was around 80kms from the hotel and took almost 2 hours.

We stayed there for couple of hours.  At least there was decent amount of parking space, we parked the bikes near the entrance, lots of free space, although people were riding the bikes inside.

Some random click from the IBW.

Next day we started the return journey, plan was to ride as much as possible comfortably and stay somewhere around Chikkamagaluru.

Srikant and Rajaghuru left early morning for Bangalore as they wanted to be back home by same day. Myself and Swami started around 10am from the hotel.

We took the Goa-Karwar-Gokarna-Murdeswar-Kundapura-Sringeri-Chikkamagaluru route. It was very nice and scenic route, around 450kms. Weather was also good throughout, we encountered some rains after kundapura.

The famous Maravanthe beach.

After lunch we finally booked a hotel in Chikkamagaluru.

somewhere after kundapura, we had to stop for tea and to put on the rain covers.

Sringeri town and temple.

Next early morning we started the ride towards Chennai.

Chikkamagaluru hotel

It was quite foggy for initial few kms.

Stopped for tea before entering Bangalore. Who says only 1300GSA has a place to keep cups.

You can also notice the new windscreen here, another benefit of tall windscreen is that it completely protects the phone, even in pouring rain i could ride with phone mounted and not a single drop of rain on it. I use an old pixel 4a for navigation and it is not water resistant, so earlier i had to remove mobile if it starts raining.

Back on not-so-nice-road.

Had lunch in Bangalore with my cousin, which took quite a while. Upon checking traffic we noticed a huge jam near Hosur, so decided to take a little detour via Rayakottai towards Krishnagiri.

Finally reached home around 10pm, we were riding slow and took few breaks on the way, including light dinner.

Final trip stats. 2125kms.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I did a marathon drive in the Maruti Suzuki Jimny to Prayagraj, UP and have a new found respect for it. This is my personal best - 1416 kms in a day.

BHPian abhi_tjet recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

68 hours - 2800 kms

Star of the show

Started at around 4:30 AM and reached parking the next day at around 2:30 AM.

Started for return on Sunday early morning from Rewa and was back by midnight.

We took an approx 1 hour break at Rewa, MP for dinner and getting prepared for the last leg where we had a night stay booked. However, we didn’t visited room and just relaxed in reception area itself.

We started again at 11 PM and reached parking as mentioned above. I have mentioned about the trip in the respective thread -

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5931629

Few points on Jimny

• Jimny is getting smoother with more and more miles being munched.
• This long trip experience was much better in terms of engine response and smoothness as compared to my Diwali home run.
• It gave an average of 12.9kmpl as in MID. So, real world turns to be around 12.5
• Sleeping in Jimny was quite comfortable.
• The go anywhere confidence which this vehicle gives you is tremendous.
• I have lost the count from this trip itself when strangers - irrespective of age, gender comes up to have conversation/gives thumbs up/turn their heads to watch it pass.
• Two small kids(age under 10) were literally walking with car smiling and weren’t able to keep their eyes away from car while we were stuck in traffic and inching ahead slowly. We finally gave them couple of snickers after half a km to go on instead of following us in the scorching sun.
• Automatic and cruise control. I just loved the convenience in this trip. The reason why Jimny was chosen for this task instead of Linea.
• Jimny will complete 8k in 7 months of ownership.

8k isn’t far

Drive safe guys!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

In Apr-2025, my R15 will turn 3. Still, there are no vibrations, loose panels/nuts or rattling of any kind so far.

BHPian sasta_rider recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

(Second) Solo Ride to Goa:

A very happy New Year wishes to everyone, wish you all safe kilometers ahead!

Quick Stats:

• Trip Start: 05-Jan-2025, 06:00 am
• Trip End: 11-Jan-2025, 02:11 pm
• Start-End of Trip: Mangaluru
• Odo Start: 25559 km
• Odo End: 26479 km
• Total Trip: 920 km

Context:

This was not my first Goa ride - I have completed two visits before: one with college friends and second one a solo ride, for the India Bike Week 2023. Goa plan with my college best friend was happening since her departure to Canada back in Aug-2021. During every long distance conversation, we used to plan and imagine how our Goa trip would look like one day! Finally, the start of 2025 itself happened with this long-pending Goa trip with the right person, who has seen me through my ups and downs of life!

From 19-Dec-2024, I was at my hometown due to year end break, new year and WFH until 20-Jan-2025. So, my start and end point for the Goa ride was Mangaluru.

Morning of 03-Jan, I dropped my R15 at Pioneer Yamaha, Kasaragod for quick check-up which included the following:

• check for any major part replacement, if any.
• chain clean, slack and lube.
• oil change (interval was not near but I wanted a smooth ride, hence I recommended this).
• break fluid top-up, as the front brake levers felt spongy due to 3-4 days of inactivity (worried about this though). Fluid top-up fixed this issue for now.

Below is the breakup of the invoice:

Glad that I had carried out this quick check-up at ASC. Prevention is better than cure: be it for humans or for our machines, does not matter!

Late evening of 04-Jan, after my work, I left to Mangaluru, which will be my start and end point of the trip. Starting from Mangaluru gave me an advantage: distance to Goa will become shorter by 50 km than if I would have started the ride from Kasaragod. I was on paid leave for a long period, carrying work laptop on my Carbonado Modpac was ruled out. This gave me enough space for dress, accessories and essentials. Both the Modpacs: 10L and 20L ones, were fully packed and strapped to the pillion footrest. Firmly placed it on the pillion seat using the 'C' type clips and to have headache-free experience during the ride, I used an additional bunjee cord from Grand Pitstop, to hold the luggage from leaning left/right.

Being born and brought up in coastal region, I assumed winter lining is just a joke during early morning rides. Only to be proven wrong this time. I was feeling very cold during the ride, until I reached Kundapura and when the sun was starting to shoot heat rays! Oh god. A lesson for next winter ride from hometown. While I rode from Mangaluru, my best friend would catch the evening flight from Ahmedabad to Goa (GOI). Everything went planned. Psych! Adrenalin was on the peak: for the ride and the trip altogether.

For breakfast, I stopped at my colleague's place who was doing his morning shift WFH, at Ankola. I was there by 09:30 am. Took an hour of break, doing as usual office gossips and then left towards Goa after an hour of resting there. The sun was getting hotter, I could feel my body being cooked from the inside. This time, I ditched the hydration bag at Bengaluru itself, as I was too lazy to wash it before the Bengaluru-Kasaragod ride.

By 01:50 pm, I reached Calangute, Goa. This place is the Indiranagar of Bengaluru for me. Do not ask me why, but I just love to stay here every time I visited Goa. Gladly, there was a car rental just next to my apartment, who offered a red Maruti Suzuki Swift (Petrol, Automatic) for INR 1500 per day, starting 9 am with a deposit of INR 3000/-. FYI, this car had the black number plate with yellow embossing of the registration number. I would have denied renting a car with white number plate.

Immediately did the payment, took the Swift and reached airport in 50 minutes. Thankfully, her arrival was delayed. I had to wait for around 20 minutes while she came with her luggage, finally: we greeted each other with a warm hug, which we missed since years! Loaded the luggage onto the tail (was good for a medium sized suitcase) and then headed back towards Calangute. I had promised to return the Swift the next day morning. My deposit was also returned within an hour of returning the vehicle. Mr. Rohit, who rented the Swift, is very professional and humble.

06-Jan-2025:

Our plan was to wake up late, slowly get ready and leave towards South Goa (biggest mistake) on my R15, for Cabo de Rama beach and fort. To those who do not know, from Calangute, it is around 80 km: which included traffic while exiting Calangute, good stretch of highway and then narrow roads as we approached the destination. For me, it was all fine as I was the rider. She had a tough time coping behind me. Before starting the ride, I had asked her to do a practise session of getting on and off the bike, just not to become embarassed in front of public. She got comfortable at first not knowing how worst that decision can be.

After breakfast at Calangute, we headed to Vega helmet shop near to KFC, where I brought her a half faced Vega helmet. I know pillion helmet is not mandatory, but her safety was important for me than just trying to look cool at a tourist place. Hence, the helmet purchase.

By the time we left the helmet shop, it was already mid-noon. Sun was just pathetic and merciless that day. She got exhausted midway, we had to stop for a tender coconut break to beat the heat. We decided to call-off the plan towards Cabo de Rama and instead, changed the destination to Colva beach. Still, too far from Calangute but was near to our tender coconut break spot. Spent some time in the nearby shack, had our late lunch and a good lemonade to get energised for the rest of the ride back. I clicked comparatively less pictures today due to the heat. I will try to keep the coming Goa itinerary short to not make it boring!

07-Jan-2025:

We decided to rent the same red Swift for 2 days since we had South Goa in plan. Aguada Fort on the way was also coveredd quikly.

A wise decision of renting Swift, we took the previous day, for her to feel queen's treatment, I can say! Covered Cabo de Rama fort and the nearby beach. Drive was calm and pleasant: had a lot of gossips, work related talks and future plans.

08-Jan-2025:

Covered Condolim beach, followed by dinner at Palms n Sands Restaurant, where we had a good beach view dinner after a tiring long walk, listening to the waves & her blabbering.

09-Jan-2025:

Early morning, the Swift was returned to the owner again, before 9 am. We decided to explore North Goa today by bike. Sudden plans but it was worth it for the day! Covered:
Parra Coconut Tree Road: To those of you are not aware, one of the shooting scene from the movie 'Dear Zindagi' was shot here. Once which was a normal road, was converted as a tourist spot with facility to park the vehicles on either ends of this road. I was quite surprised! The road was crowded during my previous Goa visits as well, but the parking facility began recently I guess. Goa'ns: correct me if I am wrong. From here, we headed to Anjuna Sunset Point where we clicked some nice pictures of the sunset, obviously!

From here, we went to Anjuna beach where we walked until sunset. Later, we enjoyed dinner with some live music at Madhushala Restaurant. My bestie, songs, food and the ambience: was just a perfect combination!

10-Jan-2025:

Check-out was at 10:30 am and she had her flight back to Ahmedabad at 9 pm. We decided to be together after checking out, somewhere on the beach shacks. So, I rented the same Swift, AGAIN. All her luggage, including her, was in the car. Whiel, I checked in to the nearby hotel from where I rented the Swift. Not a good place for the newly married couple, families or senior citizens. For a bachelor like me, it was just fine. Hope you got what kind of a place it is!

We had breakfast after checking out near Calangute, from a nasty place which I regret. After breakfast, we visited the Bom Jesus church. From there, we spontaneously decided to go to Majorda beach, absorb some Vitamin D and enjoy the Goa'n cuisine from a nearby shack watching sunset. On the way, she wanted to drive the Swift (autmatic transmission comes handy) for some distance: which she did butter smooth. She recently got her Canada DL, so I had complete confidence on her and her driving.

From 3 pm till 7 pm, we were enjoying the Arabian Sea in front and the food nearby. At around 06:45 pm, I requested bill which took some time to arrive. While, Google Map suggested we would reach GOI by 08:05 pm, which is exactly when the baggage counter closes for her flight. We got a little panicked but was able to quickly reach the airport at exactly 08:00 pm! Saddest part was, I could not even say a proper 'happy journey' or even a hug at least, as the vehicles behind me had zero tolerance and patience! She went in, confirmed that she did not miss the flight and but the flight departure from bay was delayed by 15 mins. Thank goodness!

Felt a little emotional after she left, as I could not wish her, but life has to move on. Nevermind! I reached Calangute late night, handed over the Swift and packed my bags for the long ride back home the next day morning!

Left Goa at 05:30 am while the climate outside was cold. The car rental guy (who looks after the hotel room I stayed) bid me a safe journey. These small gestures from strangers makes the day to be honest. The early morning empty road towards Karwar was scenic & worth enjoying. Due to me vibing with the nature, my energised mind did not feel like clicking some GoPro POV pictures as the recording was on. To those who are interested to watch, check out this link.

I reached 'baked' Mangaluru at 03:30 pm. Why so late? Between the Udupi-Kundapura stretch, at certain areas, the road resurfacing was ongoing. Come on, seriously? This work could have been carried out quickly during the night without disrupting the traffic. Anyways, rants aside, the trip was worth memorable except for the Zoomcar experience. Surprisingly, while I am typing this, I got a mail from the Zoomcar customer care, with whom I had been liaising since past 3 days. Fingers crossed, awaiting for the refund to reflect in my bank account as well and not just over mail:

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

Arunachal Pradesh is still developing its tourism infrastructure. Expect basic and limited stays, especially in remote areas.

BHPian deepakdsz recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

This travelogue is based on a road trip to Arunachal Pradesh in 2025, starting from Bangalore. Unlike well-documented routes to Ladakh or other parts of North India, information on road trips to East Arunachal is often limited. This account aims to guide future travelers planning a similar expedition.

Key Takeaways & Considerations:

Road Conditions & Infrastructure: Arunachal Pradesh is still developing its tourism infrastructure. Expect basic and limited stays, especially in remote areas. I caried a sleeping bag just in case to account for itchy blankets. Road quality can be challenging, with twisty and sometimes poor surfaces.

Weather: Be prepared for cold weather and carry extra insulation like quilts or sleeping bags. Sunsets occur early, around 5 PM, which, combined with challenging roads, can limit the distance covered each day.

Family Travel: As of 2025, the route, especially beyond Tawang, is not recommended for family travel due to road conditions and limited infrastructure. It's more suited for adventurous travelers. Improvements are expected in the next 2-3 years.

Route Planning: The trip focused on Mechuka, Anini/Acheso, and Kibithoo. To avoid potential Kumbh Mela traffic, the initial route used NH16 via Vizag and Kolkata, returning via NH44. NH30 + NH44 is preferred for less traffic compared to NH16.

Inner Line Permit (ILP): An ILP is mandatory for visiting Arunachal Pradesh. It can be obtained online. Make 2 copies of it. (https://eilp.arunachal.gov.in/preTuristEIlpKYC) at a cost of approximately ₹500 per person. The ILP allows a maximum stay of 14 days. Include relevant districts like West Siang, Dibang Valley, Anjaw, and Shi Yomi in your ILP. If Tawang is on your itinerary, include West Kameng and Tawang districts.

Detailed Itinerary & Experiences:

Day 1: Bangalore to Vizag (5 AM Start), likely will encounter fog after Hoskote.

• Early start recommended due to traffic on NH16.
• Breakfast options near Mulbagal and after merging to Tirupati rd.
• Lunch at Nellore Toll Plaza restaurant - good food and rest rooms
• Reached Vizag by 8 PM. Rajahmundry is an alternative halt if delayed.
• Roads were good throughout, except for traffic.

Day 2: Vizag to Kharagpur

• Breakfast recommended near Vizag. No good options once on the highway.
• Good Odisha thali at Hotel Atithi, Ongalpada.
• Heavy traffic between Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack, speed cams too
• Bumpy roads approaching Kharagpur (West Bengal).
• Several stay options in Kharagpur, next to highway at entry point
• We preferred to stay at Kharagpur to avoid entering Kolkata city.

Odiya Thali

Day 3: Kharagpur to Siliguri/Fulbari

• Breakfast options available around kolkata.
• Take the Kolkata bypass near Howrah and stick to NH12 towards Siliguri.
• Stayed at Fulbari to bypass Siliguri traffic and save time.
• TIC rooms in Fulbari, next to highway is a decent option for a night halt.
• Be cautious of barricades and wrong-side traffic on NH12.
• Daylight ends by 5:15 PM from here onwards

Day 4: Fulbari to Tezpur via Guwahati

• Plenty of food options on this stretch. Jim's Motel was great for food.
• Bypassed Guwahati; the recommended route otherside of rive had poor conditions.
• Mix of concrete and bouncy road surfaces.
• You will encounter Traffic from Bhutan. Jaigaon is a 17 km detour for Bhutan entry with an ID card.
• Shergaon is the recommended halt for Tawang-bound travelers. Start early to reach before 5:30 PM due to challenging routes in Arunachal Pradesh.

Bhutan reg car parked next

Day 5: Tezpur to Aalo via Silapathar (not via Pasighat)

• Good roads for the most part.
• ILP check at the Arunachal border. Officers here were excited on how far we drove to visit their land.
• Reached Aalo by 5 PM; extremely cold from here.
• Plenty stay and food options available in Aalo.

Day 6: Aalo to Mechuka

• Start early due to construction and time windows set for travel.
• As on 2025 there was construction work ref to as 'cutting work' in progress, this has led traffic halts upto ah hour at few points after Pene. Attaching pic for reference. We were lucky to cover this part on sunday. No work on Sunday.

Pene to Tato, Road closure timings.

Extremely bad and non-existent roads after Kaying.
Slushy, muddy roads due to rain and snow. Not recommended for low-clearance vehicles. 4x4 or RWD preferred.
Army-run café at Kaying for snacks and tea

While driving down towards Roing, we had to stop at a waterfall to clean vehicle lights

Day 7: Mechuka

We stayed at Zenyor's Homestay. Hospitality could not get any better than here. Great conversations and clean stay. Our host woke up at 5am to prepare tea before our journey
Points of interest: Border, bridges, monasteries and Salman Point.

Day 8: Mechuka to Roing via Aalo and Pasighat

Started at 5 AM.

• Delays due to constructionwork.
• Lunch at Aalo, reached Roing at 8 PM.
• Good roads from Aalo to Roing.
• Basic and limited homestay options in Roing.
• Good food at Hotel Kakhu, Roing.

Here were realized we had to drop 1 option. It would be Anini or Kibithoo. Based on recommendation from staff of hotel Kaku who had visited both these places, we opted to visit Anini and dropped Kibithoo

Road closure timings Tato to Pene, despite this we had to spend 1 hr waiting for road work to complete

Day 9: Roing to Anini

Two checkpoints after Roing (alcohol restrictions). However all tea shops after that checkpoint server beer and whisky with hot water

Scenic and narrow roads, with some steep off-road patches ('sinking zone') after Mayodia pass. Mayodia Pass had snow (no AMS concerns).

Good stay options in Anini.

at Mayodia Pass

Day 10: Acheso
Drove towards Acheso and Bruni border (last point).
Dree-Afra camp is a good tent stay option beside the Dri River.
Drove until the check post (end of road for civilians). China was 20+ km from there.

from inside the campus of Dree-Afra camps

The roads were covered with snow, we drove until check post where the road ends. China is 20+ KM from there.

Day 11: Anini to Namsai

• Scenic drive, good roads for the most part.
• Reached Namsai by 5:30 PM.
• Visited the Namsai monastery.
• Stayed at 'Woodpeckers' in Namsai (great stay option).

Day 12 Onwards: Return Journey

Namsai to Guwahati (via Kaziranga National Park).
Guwahati to Fulbari, Fulbari to Varanasi.
Varanasi to Nagpur and then to Bangalore.
Recommended route from Siliguri/Fulbari to Varanasi: Siliguri towards Patna via Purnia, bypass Patna, then towards Varanasi.
Varanasi to Nagpur is straightforward (NH30 merging with NH-44).
NH-16 is an alternative but has heavy traffic.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

As I had heavy breakfast, i was not that hungry, so thought of riding till to Coorg and have dinner early in the resort.

BHPian Rahulkool recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Got a rare opportunity for a 3 day solo ride to Coorg in the first week of feb. Turned out to be a fantastic experience.

As usual left early morning from home around 4am. Nothing beats good music and cold morning rides. There was a lot of fog also that morning. This is somewhere after crossing Vellore.

Met my cousin near Hosur, then went to his place for a heavy breakfast. Decided to take the service road of expressway to Mysuru. Cousin again rode with me till nice road exit, this time on an interceptor.

Reached Mysuru around 2:45 and saw this huge building with a veg restaurant inside. Thought of having lunch here, only to waste time as it was way too crowded. Later found out its a car museum.

As I had heavy breakfast, i was not that hungry, so thought of riding till to Coorg and have dinner early in the resort. My usual routine is to skip breakfast and have lunch at 1:30pm. As i was riding alone, did not wanted to ride in the dark, specially the last ghat section. I had checked with the resort and there was 2-3kms of bad roads. Didn't wanted to take any chances.

Stopped at couple of places for sugarcane juice.

Nice roads and greenery all around

Finally managed to reach the resort around 6:30pm. Approach road was not bad, it was bit narrow and broken tarmac. Check-in done and bike safely parked.

I stayed at Club Mahindra, Virajpet. The property is huge, the room was a it far from the reception but with location like this i am not complaining.

Dinner on the other hand was very average, i was the first one to reach for dinner lol.

Huge property.

Woke up early next day, some pics of the resort.

Breakfast was a bit better than dinner but nothing extraordinary. Due to location of this resort its will be difficult to go out for food. I have been to few club mahindra properties in past few years, this time food was really awful, their charges for food is also on higher side, at they can make it good.

Continue reading on BHPian Rahulkool's Coorg ride for BHPian comments, insights and moreinformation.

Since it was the end of summer, we got some exciting offers on the Mercedes GLE, Land Rover Defender and Toyota Land Cruiser, but without rooftop tents.

BHPian ₹itzylove recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Better late than never! Finally sharing the details of our unforgettable Iceland Ring Road trip from August to September 2023. We had initially planned to explore Scandinavia, but life had other plans, and Iceland became our dream destination instead. With busy work schedules, we only managed to book the essentials like tickets, car rental, and visas well in advance. The itinerary? That came together just a week before departure. We watched a few YouTube videos and read some articles at the last moment and decided to explore the rest after reaching there. We just had a rough plan and a few things to do.

The Plan

Our goal was to complete Iceland’s famous Ring Road, starting west, heading south, moving east, and finally up north in a counterclockwise direction. Late summer (Aug-Sep) seemed ideal for fewer crowds and relatively mild weather. Packing two big trolleys of warm clothes, Indian masalas, and ready-to-eat MTR packs, we set off. We opted for Lufthansa premium economy, extra legroom, minimum layover time, and the same operator for both flights; it was worth the splurge.

Car Booking - The Sad Story

Even though I was excited about exploring the beautiful landscapes of Iceland, I was even more excited about driving in that terrain; so picking the right car was key for me. Since Iceland is a friendly country for camping, we decided not to book hotels separately and started exploring the camper van options to begin with. The most common ones are two-seaters with a bed instead of rear seats, like Renault Kangoo, Dacia Dokker, etc. These are available both in automatic and manual transmissions. However, they are only front-wheel drive (FWD), except a few VW and only one Pajero, which have beds in the rear and also 4X4. I wasn’t too keen on driving those small vans and wanted to try out some 4X4. The VW was more like a Van and missed the Pajero only by a day. Since it was the end of summer, we got some exciting offers for GLE, Defender, and Land Cruisers from Hertz, but without rooftop tents well within my budget.

We found out that there are a lot of options to rent the camping gear separately, like beds, and I wanted to check if it’s possible to fold the rear seats and make a flatbed in these cars. I was quite sure it would be convenient, but I still wanted to check if Hertz would allow me to camp inside the car. So, I wrote an email. Their reply was, “It’s ok with us, however, some campsites will have rules against sleeping inside the car”, which we later realized wasn’t true, at least not in Iceland. Disappointed after seeing the reply, I started exploring more options with rooftop tents and found the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.

It’s a plug-in hybrid vehicle with a pure electric range of 40 km, twin-motor 4WD system with Super-All Wheel Control (S-AWC). It comes with a 2.0 Ltr 4-Cylinder engine with 2 electric motors, one at each axle. It also has heated seats and steering, which are very useful in Icelandic weather conditions. A super easy, no-nonsense car to live with, it gave no trouble throughout the trip. I was recommended to use 95 octane fuel, but not to worry, every fuel station in Iceland only has 95 octane gas. Fuel prices were approximately 180-190 INR per litre.

The Travel

We picked our flight from Chennai to Reykjavík via Frankfurt. Our preferred carrier for domestic was, as always, Indigo (mostly on time). We traveled from Coimbatore to Chennai, made sure we had a backup flight in case of any cancellation, so we reached Chennai airport well in advance. We went out and had dinner at Murugan Idli Shop.

Day 1: 29/8/23 Grindavik – The Start

Upon arrival, the car rental guy picked us up at the Reykjavík Airport in a Mercedes Vito Tourer, their office very close to the Airport. We got our Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV equipped with a pop-up tent, sleeping bags, a foldable table, chairs, a stove, an ice cooler, utensils, and Wi-Fi. He was so friendly and we started making a good conversation, that’s when I realized there is no such rule not to sleep inside the car. He rightly pointed out that all the small campers are typically offering the same. I was cursing my luck for missing out on driving a Defender, which is one of my dream SUVs to own.

After a safety briefing (and a heads-up about upcoming rain and wind alerts), he also introduced us to the website vedur.is to keep an eye on the weather, especially wind. He warned us about a windy day ahead next week and asked us not to take any chances using the rooftop tent. He suggested we either sleep inside the car (by folding the second row) or book a hotel room. We grabbed a quick lunch at a burger joint, stocked up on groceries, and reached Grindavik for our first camp night. The place lived up to its great reviews, a lively spot where travelers exchange tips and even leave behind extra supplies.

Dinner was a comforting Muttai Kolambu (egg curry - with our own masala, which really lit up a lot of fellow campers). A friendly couple from the Netherlands couldn’t resist the smell, tasted our curry, and fell in love with it. Afterward, we started working on a detailed itinerary, keeping an eye on the weather using vedur, and decided to revise our travel plan due to the weather alerts. Instead of going counterclockwise, we pivoted to clockwise to experience the north before the heavy rain hit.

Campsite image from Google:

Popup Tent - How to close - Please watch it in 3X speed:

Day 2: 30/8/23 West Iceland Highlights

Búðakirkja: A quaint black church surrounded by lava fields.

Gatklettur: A stunning rock arch by the sea.

Svörtuloft Lighthouse and Ingjaldshólskirkja: Picturesque spots perfect for photography.

Ingjaldshólskirkja: Beautiful road with a church.

Kirkjufell: The iconic "Windows screensaver" mountain (the most photographed mountain in Iceland).

We ended the day at the Grundarfjörður camp, conveniently located near a swimming pool. Note, however, that there is no kitchen or good shower room here.

• Total Distance Covered - 448 Kms
• Time Behind the Wheels - 8:30 hours

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

In total, we drove 589 kms, on an average the bike consumes 18.5 litres of fuel for GS 310.

BHPian silverstreakcbe recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

The Plan

Having met in our earlier group ride in Dec, we wanted to do our next ride towards south. We decided to do our trip in the month of February. We planned in January and decided the dates for the ride as most of us did not have enough leaves/holidays to do the ride. The plan was to drive to Theni since two riders in the group had homes there and volunteered to be the host. Then visit couple of places there and then next day start from Theni, ride towards Bodimettu and through Munnar. I have heard the road between Bodimettu and Munnar was very picturesque and excellent to ride with broad and well laid roads.

Pre-ride activities

We wanted the ride to look more unique, hence we ordered similar T Shirts as per size requirements. As we knew summer has already begun, we had selected the right material and type, prepared mentally for riding in the scorching heat. We expected light to medium traffic enroute to Munnar and moderate to heavy traffic down to udumalpet. After jotting down the route-map, fuel-stops, food-stops, stay and tentative expenses per rider. We discussed and decided all the DOs and DONTs during the trip.

Day-1(22/02/25)

Customary Rituals at starting point

Started on time. Lot of hydration breaks, photoshoot breaks. Summer already has begun here in down south. We had 6 water bottles which got emptied even before we were half-way through.

Refreshment break near Dharapuram

Near Batlagundu

Near Theni

Barring from couple of flyover works, the entire stretch was smooth. The roads between Sembatti and Theni was very busy stretch with lot of traffic. We took the new four lane bypass through Bathlagundu. Stopped here for some fun photoshoot, posed all boys stuff for photos.

Please don't judge us for riding on the wrong side. This is a brand new highway and is not in use yet. There were places we had to take detours to the wrong side, that also helped for Photoshoot.

Pose for the Ride

Sun shoot

Bike Worship

Taking center stage

Stick Together

Being tall when needed

Boys are Boys!

One of our riders were the host. Lot of Wind Turbines on the way to a small village near Kandamanur with lot of village scenery, cows, goats and dogs on the way. But the road was very smooth, twists and turns. Finally, we reached our destination around noon, lunch was ready to be served. We had sumptuous lunch served on traditional banana-leaf and with lots of kindness. We got used to the scenic spot, Dogs, cats, etc.

Parked safe, being at home

Rested for some time and then we started to our first spot, Thottipaalam (Aquaduct) just before Kumily. It took us couple of detours before we found the actual route to the place. There were no roads, kind of offroad. We spent significant time in bathing in the fresh water flowing down the canal enjoying the scenic location and mountain around us.

Thottipaalam

Refreshing Bath

Yes, We can do off-road!

While returning, we identified a spot to do some off-roading. And one by one, we tried our best to show-off our skills. On the way back, we had dinner, visited couple of places before settling for the day. After many years, we got a chance to sleep on a village terrace with lots of stars to gaze at. Chit-chatted for some time and then plan for the next day and then crashed.

Day-2(23/02/25)

Got up very early, refreshed and went to terrace for capturing scenic beauty. The host did not allow us to leave without having breakfast, that’s The Indian Village Hospitality, lots of love and care. By the time we all got ready, had breakfast and ready to leave, sun was in full spell. We bid farewell to the noble souls and started towards Munnar

Beauty of Bharat, Its villages!

Mesmerizing Views

Annadhatha sukhibhava!!

The Noble souls (Host)

Next stop was at Bodimettu. After filling up all our tanks (Stomach & Bike), we drove towards a famous temple to seek blessings on our way. After getting the blessings, we resumed our journey, we found a nice spot for a photoshoot and once again Boys will be Boys. Spent some time fooling around with candid moments. After photos, we resumed and reached Bodimettu. The Journey from Theni to Bodimettu was quiet challenging as well, with lots of heavy vehicles across border, the weekend tourists and bikers like us. It needed some skills to overtake the heavy trucks and buses considering the blind curves and limited space. Finally reached Bodimettu and break for refreshments.

Bless our way

One for the hills

What's a ride without fun and being Candid!

Gateway to the Hills

Once we finished our break and refreshment, the next stop was to reach the famous “Gap Road” enroute to Munnar. Once we got into the Toll Road, it was wide open and behold the most scenic roads in India. As the Sun blazed down, we enjoyed the moment with a great formation ride. We kept our speed and formation ensuring we stuck to our disciplines.

Speed

Discipline

Together

The importance of proper riding gears (First hand)

As we were cruising our way towards Munnar, we saw some commotion on one of the corners, with a bike stuck on a dry drain and people scrambling to check on the bike and the rider. We immediately stopped to help. Three of our riders helped to pull out the stuck bike from the drain. Then we checked on the rider, gave some water to drink. The rider was bit panicked, but physically all right. What the rider told us was, he applied the front break on the downward curve, that pulled him to the side. The scariest part was the distance the rider was dragged before stopping and we could see the scratch mark of the bike on the concrete walls. The most important thing that we visibly noticed was, the rider had bruises only on riding gear. We were relieved to know that he was alright and able to handle himself with no major injury. We hope, he would have taken care to confirm that he had no injuries. Later, we used our bike tools to help them straighten the ill-fated bike’s clutch and put it back to place. Once we confirmed his companions arrived, we resumed our journey.

Marks on the wall are of bike scratching the distance

Pulling out the bike

Fixing the clutch lever assembly

Enroute, we stopped for photoshoots and reached Munnar. Entering Munnar was like we were getting into some major city, very heavy traffic. We spent close to 1 hour just to get ourselves a nice hotel for lunch and parking. We were totally exhausted by the sheer traffic the city was having. Munnar on Weekends, give it a serious thought!!

Riding back

Those who are aware of Coimbatore to Munnar stretch, would know what it is to ride between Munnar and Udumalpet. Until Marayoor, it’s all about rider skills of judgement and bravery. After Marayoor, you become Godly rider!! Seriously, those planning to ride bikes on this stretch, give it a serious thought. The roads are scraped at many places to make way for new roads. The road laying gravel and materials lie on the roadside itself which posses a grave danger of bikes rolling to sides if applied brakes inappropriately. The ride back to Udumalpet was fun, but very tiring and exhausting. Once we reached Udumalpet, we took a well-deserved break, had snacks and refreshments.

We started our journey back to Coimbatore via Palladam. As usual, traffic between Palladam and Coimbatore was heavy and even more frustrating. Somehow, we all made it safe to the de-briefing point. Huddled for one last time, we had some cool drinks, discussed on positive and negatives from the ride, rider experience, dos and donts for next trip, fuel consumed and other nitty gritty things. Finally, we all made it to our respective home after a refreshing and exciting ride.

Ride Metrics

In total, we drove 589 kms, on an average the bike consumes 18.5 litres of fuel for GS 310.

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One of them was riding a TVS Apache RR310 and the other brought his Royal Enfield Hunter 350.

BHPian doomketu recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Closing off 2024 with a 420 km round trip

As 2024 was coming to a close, a long ride was in order. Since work and domestic responsibilities grew manyfold, I had barely ridden the bike since Nov 20th 2024. I wanted to seek the blessings of Shri Yoganrusimha swamy at Melukote and also Thondanur and prepared myself. A pleasant surprise manifested itself in the form of two other AOG club members joining me in the trip. What would have been a solo spiritual trip turned into a fantastic 420km group ride to seek HIS blessings.

We had a fellow RTR owner who had to bring his Hunter 350 as the RTR was getting some work done, while the other got his RR. After a short and fruitful discussion, we found that we are all on the same wavelength and this made the trip much easier on the mind. The other two were seasoned riders having done almost all of AOG's flagship rides and doing 700+ km in a day, while I, on the other hand, am not so experienced. What I lack in experience, I make up in navigation and AOE skills (area of effect as seen in RTS/RPG games).

On a cold Saturday morning, with temps at 15C, we met up at the Murthy Petrol Pump, Kanakapura road. At 6.50 am, we started from our meetup point at the Nice road junction on the Kanakapura road. We opted to travel via Kanakapura road as the Mysore road expressway is closed to bikes and I don't want to travel over 100km in just service road with speed breakers every 2 km. The overhauled Kanakapura road is fantastic and the natural curves and the backdrop of mountains and fields are easy on the eyes.

The route travelled was Bengaluru--> Harohalli--> Kanakapura--> Malavalli--> Maddur--> Mandya bypass--> State Highway 84 from Mandya to Melukote. The distance from my basement to Melukote is 190km. Connected via the Intercom grid, the to journey was fairly uneventful with us stopping once at Malavalli to check our bearings.

As we wanted to cruise at 80/90 and ensure everyone's safety (especially the Hunter as the engine was getting run in), the RR led the way with me bringing up the rear. I had the navigation running in my bike and was giving advance heads up on turns and potential curves up ahead, much to the RR's delight. I cannot carve out corners, but I will still try to have as much fun as I can, and seeing the RR take the corner like a champ is indeed a fun way to enjoy your Morning rides.

We decided to eat only after the Darshanam and stopped every 1.5 hours to just rehydrate. At Malavalli, a local tea shop uncle rather curiously asked about the 310 twins and was amazed by the looks of the RR. Hunter being ubiquitous does not draw as much attention. The road from Malavalli to Madduru is extremely scenic and I would love to drive through that stretch again. We stopped at Maddur at 8.20 am, having covered about 100km with 1 stop in about an hour and 30 mins. I would say that is a great time.

After having our coffee and attending to our bikes, we started off and were stuck to the service road. After 20 mins of service road experience, we turned north into the state highway 84 that leads us to Melukote. I have been a regular on this route for the past 9 years and I am happy to report that the road is still as it is. Goats, cows and hay bales occupy the roads intermittently, with unscientific speed breakers that might as well break your back hampering our smooth flow. But if you are willing to look past this, the road truly shines in bringing a big fat smile to your face as your bikes cruise through the verdant stretches and enjoy the cool mid morning breeze.

Before I got off on a tangent to explain the significance of Melukote and Thondanoor, let me share the rider experience for the RR and RTR.

For a rider of my heft and height, I faced NO fatigue. Correct body posture goes a LONG way in alleviating any pains associated with the travel and the bike's setup is friendly for Indian roads. I have adjusted the rear to my weight and so I see wonderful results. The bike breathed happily in the pure morning air, something it is deprived of in the cluttered Bengaluru roads and the fuel economy in sports mode with a light throttle hand was 36KMPL. I would say that is fantastic.

I then got to ride the RR for the last 40km, while the RR rider jumped onto the Hunter. The Hunter rider, happily got back on the RTR and flew past us as he finally was free from any encumbrance associated with the Engine run-in period. I absolutely LOVE the RR handling. With a good engine oil, a talented technician and copious amounts of pampering, the RR was smooooooth. I, a man who is scared to corner, was naturally leaning in at the behest of the bike and was partially successful. The bike was a pleasure to drive, but the riding posture is still something that I am not comfortable with.

Melukote is famous for 2 temples and is also the birthplace of former Tamil Nadu CM, J Jayalalitha.

The Yoga Nrusimha Swamy temple is famous in its own right and is a major devotional place and the Cheluvaraya Swamy temple is famous because of Shri Ramanujacharya, who spread Shri vaishnavam 1000 years ago and is an important figure in Vaishnavism along with the Alvars in Southern India.

We reached Melukote without any issues and managed to find a good parking in a shed owned by a flower-selling Ajji (aunty). With our bikes secured and helmets inside her store, we purchased Flowers and Tulasi from her and started our journey to the top. I am terribly out of shape and the 150 steep steps were rather a harsh wakeup call to me, and this is despite me dropping quite a bit this year. Monkeys and goats roamed around unrestricted and septa and octogenarians were climbing the steps without any issues. Sad to say that the temple is heavily commercialised, and with Gandhiji's blessing, we got a sannithi darshan of Nrusimha Swamy and prayed to our heartfelt content.

Once done, we stepped out to admire the view of the surrounding countryside from the top of the hill and spotted our next destination, the Cheluvaraya Swamy Temple, in the distance.

After parking the bikes and navigating through hundreds of school kids and tourists, we entered the temple via special entry and proceeded to the darshan line.

After a calm and peaceful darshan, we finally decided to top up our stomach, as my last meal had been at 8pm last night. We hurried to Subbu's mess nearby, which was recommended to us by several folks. The Puliyogare and Chakkara Pongal with Plain dosai and chutney was FANTASTIC. After eating to our hearts' content, we noticed the time, it was now quarter past noon. As temples close by 1pm we were not sure if we could get a darshanam in Thondanoor.

The road from Melukote to Thondanoor is equally a pleasure to drive through, and we reached there by 12.55 pm. Thondanoor has 3 temples, a Rukmini / GopalaKrishna temple, a Nambi Narayana temple and the Yoganrusimha temple (Which is where I wanted to go to).

Strangely, a young boy on a scooty came up to me and asked for a photo of him standing next to the RTR. Considering there is an RR behind me, this request amused us all and I happily obliged. I expressed my disbelief to the RR rider who just laughed and left it as it is. RTR is a great bike and I love its looks.

We decided to return via the Thondanoor--> Pandavapura-->Bannur section to join back to the OLD Mysore road and connect to the Kanakapura road from Malavalli onwards. We wanted to experience the pure joy of riding and not get bored out of our skull on the Sidelines of Mysore expressway service road. The road was an absolute hoot to ride through and brought out the joy of riding in us. I once again assumed duties as the rear guard and navigator and would let the RR know when juicy curves were approaching. We tackled the numerous curves and smooth roads splitting the farmlands that dot the landscape and finally joined the Old Mysore road.

Had I known that Tirumakoodalu narasipura was just 18km from this junction, I would have gone further and visited the Nrusimha Swamy temple at the Sangamam there, but alas, I was not aware and turned left and continued towards Bangalore.

We stopped to hydrate ourselves and refuel the bike. I got 36kmpl and filled about 8.2 liters of fuel. The Hunter on the other hand had half a tank left. Talk about 42kmpl coupled with a 13 liter tank. The vehicle is fantastic, and is selling in good numbers. One point to note is that till this time, neither me nor the RR rider faced any fatigue and the RTR absorbed all the undulations like a champ and tackled 80-90 in 6th gear at about 4.5-5k rpm. The engine was not stressed at all. The Hunter on the other hand has some challenges for such rides.

Credit where due, the brakes on the Hunter are nippy and we got to test it out in the next 1 hour when an errant Wagon R swerved right from the left most lane, with us deploying emergency braking measures. With choicest words imparted to the Wagon R driver, which only I could hear in the intercom, we started back to an uneventful ride back home. We split after a small coffee break, 15km from our morning meetup point and I took nice road to return back home.

This trip has further motivated me to plan my next temple visit to my native place deep in the land of the Chola kings. With this I bid goodbye to 2024, a fantastic year by default for me, but made even more exciting by the midlife crisis purchase I call my beloved RTR310. As I type this, Appucha is sitting patiently on the paddock stand in our covered parking, awaiting the day I will ride next.

6000km in 10 months, many more to come.

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One can see the thick forested patches from the top of Ponmudi towards the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve and the Papanasam Reserve.

BHPian pramod recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hello Folks,

Me being a local Bengaloorean, don't travel out into the hills or to the touristy parts of Karnataka and Kerala when schools are closed or during a long weekend. It has been a way of life this way for the past 2 decades. We travel when others don't!

But with a city with 1.4 crore people today, such ideologies don't matter nor work anymore. I thought. And then again, my kids are now in their 7th grade and I don't have the luxury of getting them to skip school at will anymore, which we did all these years. I had been to Himachal and had driven a self-drive Creta all the way from Chandigarh to Chitkul through Shimla, Kufri, Kangra, Sangla, Rakcham and had stayed put there. And then moved through Rampur and Jalori pass to stay at Jibhi. And ended the trip by driving back from Sissu, back to Chandigarh through pathetic highways of Mandi and Bilaspur, back in April 2024.

With Himalayas done for the year, and Goa in the Monsoons and Guruvayoor and Dhimbam in Nov, the December end trip had to be either outside of India or Thiruvananthapuram. Flight costs were exorbitant and I decided on a longish drive to cover the South of Kerala, which I had not been able to cover at all in the past 2 decades of my driving life. Space between Alleppey and Kanyakumari had been a mystery of sorts, being so away from Bangalore. But at the end of it all, every place becomes familiar for a while after a fresh round of travel and then moves slowly into oblivion, like the truck on the rear view mirror of your car!

Dec 21st it was. We decided, a single day drive all the way to Thiruvananthapuram is tad too much. And hence, we drove till Madurai. It was an arduous journey all the way till we exited Salem, taking a good 5 hours to do the initial 180 kms. It was a breeze from there on, to reach Madurai at 6 pm in the evening. Initial plan was to visit the temple in the evening. But with the kind of unusual drive we had till Salem, meant, we had in-room service of dinner and slept for the night.

Morning of Dec 22nd came early at 4:30 am and we took an autorickshaw to visit the West gate of the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. This time of the year in Dec meant huge crowds at all temples in this region due to the Sabarimala Ayiappa devotees. And that meant, at 5 am, we had a long queue which took 3 hours to provide a darshan of the Goddesses and the Huge Ganapati Vigraha at the temple.

At 10:30 am, we checked out of the Hotel Heritage Madurai and started our drive in our 2017 Skoda Octavia, which is now running on a new set of tyres which were changed to, just before this drive. Tyres feel plush, smooth and the steering of the Octy is back to its best with the changed tyres. The Asian Highway 43 towards Virudhanagar now seems like a hot knife on a brick of butter and we reached the Junction just before Thirunelveli, to take the right to reach Tenkasi.

The drive from Gangikonda towards Tenkasi was a single carriage way but soon joined the SH that was coming from Thoothukudi and Thirunelveli and we were now on a 4 lane State highway.

A comfortable drive to reach a Typical Tamil Nadu meal hotel just before Tenkasi. 4 buses full of Sabarimala crowd waiting to take the seat to have their rice meal. The moment the owner of this humble hotel sees us, they arrange for the sofa seats in the Isolated AC room with all the sambars and Rasams served in bowls instead of serving it straight onto the banana leaves, as they would ideally do. They seem to think we from the city don't appreciate the banana leaf lunch. I had to explain to them in my broken Tamil with Kannada words in the middle, that we are right at home, with a banana leaf and white rice in front of us and he was more than happy to see us enjoy our meal.

We now cross over into Kerala, not before we gave a quick visit to the Courtallam falls.

Thenmala ghat was easy and simple to drive on. We visited the Thenmala tourist checkpost, to check out the hanging bridge, the dam view and the likes. We were already having 4 pm on our watch and it was time to drive down to the other side before sunset.

We came across a beautiful little Siva temple (Ammayambalam Siva temple before the town of Madathara) on the corner of a turn on the mountain roads. It wasn't touristy at all and I did not see any of the others making it inside. On the corner of a platform, two young women were chanting away peacefully on Lord Siva, the reverberations of it, along with the tall trees around and the forested area behind the temple, was an amazing setting for a beautiful evening in an unexpected place.

I had also not known that there is a railway track covering East to West of India that is built through Thenmala. The old stone pillars of the track are an awesome sight in the midst of the forested area.

We reached Thiruvananthapuram city center at 7:30 pm and checked into our Service apartment, which was right next to the Central Secretariat area. Beautiful city I thought.

Day 3 began with an early morning walk on the walkways of the city. I could see Police headquarters, the Film festival convention hall, the City development office, beautiful parks, KETRON/CDOT office and beautiful art work on the street walls depicting Homi J baba, Sarvapalli Radakrishnan, Salim Ali, Kalpana Chawla, Vikram Sarabhai. All these paintings do make an imprint on the minds of the youth to take a certain direction in life, I thought!

We drove to Jataayu Earth center and made sure to take the cable car to the top. Quite a beautiful setting on the top. A refreshment corner serving brilliant Nimboo juice and Samosas made our early lunch.

A Rama temple built on top of the Jataayu rock.

We then drove down to Varkala North cliff for a sumptuous lunch at Little Tibet.

Evening sunset was at the south cliff through the Cafe - Trip is life property.

The beaches of Varkala I felt are way cleaner than any other I have visited along the west coast, I told myself.

The Janardhana Swamy temple with the large 16th Century Bell was worth the visit.

We drove through the seaside road from Varkala back to Thiruvananthapuram city and we got stuck there due to a Xmas procession for an hour at least.

Day 4 was Ponmudi's day after a visit to the Ananthapadmanabha Swamy temple in the morning.

The KTDC lunch on the top of Ponmudi hill station was quite good but with absolutely no variety to choose from. The KTDC accommodations on top of Ponmudi look quite inviting. We reached the viewpoints by 4 pm and spent a good 2 hours up there. One can walk across multiple hill tops across the grasslands and sholas. One can see the thick forested patches from the top of Ponmudi towards the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve and the Papanasam Reserve.

Day 5 was spent on Azimala Siva temple, Kovalam, light house and drove towards Poovar.

We stayed in a Heritage home in Poovar and the evening boating was quite good. We had done a similar boat ride at Pichavaram in 2023. One would find no mangroves here in Poovar. It's tropical growth here.

Day 6: We checked out of Poovar accommodation and drove to Padmanabhapuram, the erstwhile capital of the Travancore dynasty. The palace here is the largest Wooden palace in Asia. Using teak wood for construction and cashew oil as the coating.

The last few ranges of the western ghats are visible from this place and you know that after a few kilometers, driving on the bad stretches of road going close to Nagerkovil, that the ghats are no more. You take the Nagerkovil bypass and finally join the AH towards Thirunelveli and Bangalore.

A good 10 hours later, and 700 Kms, we were back home.

With this, I guess I have done it all in the Southern states of Goa, Southern MH, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Probably Sandur is on my Monsoon list for 2025. Apart from that, I have more or less covered all the places that are needed to be seen in South India.

With more time, one can also cover Ashtamudi, Parushurama temple, Krishnapuram palace, Thiruvananthapuram city attractions spanning Zoo, Vikram Sarabhai Space Museum, Napier Museum, Raja Ravi Verma Painting exhibits, Chitra Art Gallery, Veli Heritage Village and others.

Cheers

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

This is one of the oldest minimum-gauge railways that is operational not just as a tourist attraction, but also a means to connect about 5 places in the valley of Esk.

BHPian NiInJa recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Last weekend we did a quick trip to the Lake District of England, although it was not the most ideal time to visit given the cold winds and a bad weather forecast, the idea was to take a ride in one of the historic smallest gauge trains colloquially known as the ''La’al Ratty''

Owned by the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Company, this is one of the oldest minimum-gauge railways that is operational not just as a tourist attraction, but also a means to connect about 5 places in the valley of Esk. It also has a properly operated signalling system, loops, car shed, maintenance yard and all the works that one would expect in normal trains that we travel in.

With a total travel time of 40 minutes one way from Ravenglass to Dalegarth, we had a good one hour and twenty minutes of fun in this cute little train.

With a track width of 15 inches, everything is small here, the station, the platform, signal box, track changing levers, turn-table and the shed which is bound to excite the kid inside you.

The train starts from Ravenglass station, it is next to the 'real' Ravenglass station in the Lake District.

The train route was originally constructed in the 1870s to facilitate transport of iron ore from the mines in the valley of Esk to the nearby station where a standard gauge train would pick the ores and transport it. Soon, it was opened for public transport in 1876. Back then, it was a 2 feet 9 inch gauge track.

It underwent a lot of closures and re-openings in the late 1800s and finally in 1915 a model trainmaker named Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke regauged the entire line to 15 inch gauge and restarted operations again. The current engines are from that era. As one would expect, these operations slowly ceased after World War 2 modernization.

The heritage steam engine that pulls the train. Operations on this route restarted in the 1960s after a private company was formed (R&ER co) to restore the train and tracks. Mostly driven by popular demand and railway enthusiasts who wanted to see it run again.

Inside the tiny cabin. The train has 1st class coach as well, with heating provided in them. Then there are open coaches to get a good view. We managed to sit in the last coach (which became the first coach on the return journey)

Similar to sitting in a caboose.

View from the rear window

Negotiating a curve. The train reaches speeds of about 23 miles per hour

Reaching Dalegarth station. Two trains run in summers, which makes use of loops and signals at some places.

We missed our train and had to take the last one available, as one of our kids could not deal with the winding roads that lead up to the Ravenglass station and threw up in the car.

Dalegarth station is a scenic spot where one can take a walk and soak in the scenery around, but given our circumstances, we had only 10 minutes before the same train left for Ravenglass

Sitting in the same coach, this time we were the first ones in it.

The smoke of burning coal and the steam was not excessive as one would imagine, it was bearable.

Admiring the working of the steam engine...

Once we reached Ravenglass station, the engine is detached and rolled on the turntable where it is rotated manually by pushing the engine.

Another angle..

The maintenance shed next to the station.

Some junk coaches kept around, the entire area has loads of objects that replicate standard gauge railways.

Continue reading about NiInJa's train ride for BHPian comments, insights and more information.