[tazmaan]

Travelogue divided in 5 Parts

1. Introduction
2. Day 1
3. Day 2
4. Day 3
5. Day 4

Introduction

Since the Leh trip which happened 6 years back, I was itching for some adventure. Over the past 6 years, lots of things happened. Got married, Got kid, work became hectic and life happened.

All this while, I did take vacations but nothing to get the adrenalin running. We are expecting a 2nd Kid and I know in few months, life is going to get really busy. I dreamt of open roads and time alone.

One day spoke to my wife and she immediately said ok to the Idea. I was not sure if I heard it correctly. I asked her again and she said yes!

This was around Nov 25, I decided to leave on Saturday which was Nov 28th. The trip was going to be for 4 or 5 days and location wasn't yet decided. I didn't know where I wanted to go.

I thought of going to Himachal, Bhuj and even Madurai where my cousin from USA is working on a project. Himachal was too far and Bhuj didn't interest me, With floods in Tamil Nadu, Madurai was out too. I thought of going to Bangalore where my sister lives but that was out since I wanted to be alone.

All this while, I am looking for a destination, at the back of my Mind I am thinking, Will my wife be ok with this. She said yes but does she mean it? So I ask her again and again and she reassures me everytime. I explain to her my difficulty in deciding a destination. This was on 26th Nov.

Next day early morning, my wife wakes me up and says I found a place where you can go. She suggests I go to Gokarna and Maravanthe. I figured she was up late looking for places where I can go. I did a bit of research myself and it was decided that I will go upto Maravanthe and back. The trip would be Mumbai-Gokarna-Maravanthe-Mumbai. This was decided on the morning of 27th Nov.

I was supposed to leave on 28th Nov and with a wedding to attend, I hardly got any time to book hotels. I had shortlisted a few but could not book any. I quickly finished all my packing and went through the check list of things to take.

Essentials Taken:

Car Phone Charger
Map My India
Swiss Army Knife
Tool Kit
Installed - Location Tracking software on my phone so that my wife can track my location in case of emergency
Sunglasses and Cap
Camera

All set to leave now!

[tazmaan]

28th November 2015 : Day 1


I had set the alarm for 4:46 am (don't ask why an odd time I myself don't know). I tried sleeping but could hardly sleep. I was up by 4:00 am, I helped myself to a nice coffee, got ready and loaded all the luggage in the car.

I left at 5:30 am

Description from here on will be more with Pictures.

Starting Odo and Morning Pic




On Mumbai Pune Highway




Breakfast from Mc-Donalds



Toll Post Pune - Toll time was used to Stretch and relax because queue was long.



Had Lunch at CCD Kolhapur, Reached Hubli Around 3:30 pm and turned in on NH63 to join Panvel Highway. The route goes through dense forest and is very well maintained.

Pictures on NH63




Reached Gokarna at 6:30 pm but took a wrong turn into Gokarna Market. Reached the Hotel at 7:30 pm because it took me some effort to circle around the market. Further road leading to Patang beach resort is practically off-road and since it was dark I could barely see direction boards put up by the resort.

Here is the link of the Hotel/Resort http://patangbeachresort.com

Picture of the Cottage



I was shown around by the owner of the resort. They have a kitchen where you can order food and beverages. Ordered dinner, went to the room got freshened, ate dinner and called it a night.

Total travel 750 kms
Route Travelled Mumbai-Pune-Kohlapur-Hubli-Ankola-Gokarna
As per MID got an average of 15.3 km/l

Day 2 - Site seeing Gokarna and Travel to Maravanthe

[tazmaan]

29th November - Gokarna City and Maravanthe stay

Woke up had a nice Breakfast and took a tour of hotel beach. Plan was to spend some time at hotel beach, go to Gokarna Market, Gokarna beach and head to Maravanthe.

Local Breakfast and Coffee



View from the Cottage



Hotel Beach






Gokarna Market and Gokarna Beach







Entry to Shiv Temple



Left Gokarna at 11:30 am for Maravanthe. Its a straight drive along Panvel Highway. The entire highway is being upgraded and drive is not a happy experience. Reached Maravanthe at 1:30 pm. The famed coastal drive was not fun due to construction work.

Stayed at Turtle bay resort here is the link http://www.justahotels.com/turtlebay-trasi-kundapur/

My stay at Maravanthe was not booked or decided. I was driving around when I found a Marketing Hoarding of Turtle bay and decided to call them. I went and saw the Resort and fell in love with the beach there. Good rooms, good food and activities like Kayaking, dolphin safari, fishing can be done. I did Kayaking for the first time and was an awesome experience.

Drive to Maravanthe







The Turtle Bay Resort



The Resort from the beach



Volleyball anyone?



At the parking lot.



View from the restaurant.



Kayaking



Some Pics of the Beach and the Sunset that evening.







The Sunset









Not much of driving around on day 2. But was very relaxing and got a lot of time for myself.

Special thanks to Hotel Manager Mr. Sandesh at Turtle Bay.

[tazmaan]

30th November - Maravanthe-Jog Falls-Murudeshwar-Dandeli-Baga Beach Goa.

At Turtle bay Maravanthe, I once thought of staying back for an extra day. But the itch to get back on the road was too strong.

I left Maravanthe Hotel at 6:00am for Jogg falls. On the way I stopped for a cup of tea at the Coastal Road. The drive and the road looked much better since it was deserted early in the morning.

Morning Photo shoot at Maravanthe Coastal Road











The route from Maravanthe to Jogg falls was decided through Sharavati Wildlife Sanctuary. The road is very good except 15 odd kms which is broken. Also the road through the sanctuary is very narrow and every time a vehicle comes from opposite side one has to move aside off the road. The drive was very pleasurable and peaceful.

Drive Through Jungle













Stopped in the Sanctuary at a small Dhaba type hotel which is situated at a small village on the way. Don't remember the name of Village. I had the best dosa and filter coffee of my life. He took 20 mins to get breakfast, I could hear the mixer/grinder working franticly in the background. But the wait was worth it and everything was made fresh.

Awesome Breakfast







Curious dog checking out my ride while I wait for breakfast



Reached Jog falls at 10:30 am









Hydro-Power plant just behind Jog falls.





Parked at Jog falls.



Drove off towards Murudeshwar at 12:00 Pm. The road is along the Kaveri river and is through dense forest, but nothing to beat the drive I just did on the way.

Some Pics at Murudeshwar.









Spent 30 odd minutes at Murudehswar and Pushed on towards Dandeli. On my way to Dandeli met a fellow traveler who was riding from Mumbai to Mysore at Cafe Coffee Day





The drive to Dandeli was ok nothing great (Had done most of it on my way in). I was not sure if I wanted to stay at Dandeli or no. As luck would have it there was a thunder storm at Dandeli and I could not find myself a decent room. The power was cut off and I could hardly find my way around. Found one cottage at Jungle stay but was quoting a lot for one night. So I decided to push on towards Goa. Reached Baga late at around 11:30 Pm, checked in to Cavala (My usual stay), went to Anthony shack on Baga beach and had a nice time.

The Road from Dandeli to Goa is one of the worst I have driven. Ended up bottoming out 3 times luckily no damage done.

Summary:

Maravathe - Jog Falls : 110 Kms
Jog Falls - Murudeshwar : 87 Kms
Murudeshwar - Dandeli : 219 Kms
Dandeli - Baga Beach Goa: 143 Kms

Total: 550 Kms, I got the worst milage along this route of 13 km/l.

[tazmaan]

1st December Goa-Mumbai

This was the day I head back to Mumbai. Had a nice breakfast at the hotel and decided to trek to the top of Chapora fort. Did some Cashew shopping later and left for Mumbai at 12:30 pm.

Outside Cavala Hotel



Photo Opportunity



Parked at Fort



View from Chapora Fort











On the way back at Amboli





End of the trip ODO Trip B.



Mumbai - Goa total kms: 590 kms. Reached Mumbai at 10:25 Pm.


Other small things.

1. The car was fun to drive. I am floored by the handling ability of the car. It needs to be experienced, pushing the Jazz around corners on Ghat sections was just superb.

2. The chiller on the AC Vent is a savior. It kept my beverage chilled.



3. Top speed done 130 kmph on Mumbai Pune express way on the way back.

4. Made generous use of paddle shift in S mode during day 3 on ghat sections. The paddle shifts work flawlessly, in the S mode the car simply transforms into a mad Jazz.

5. At the end of the trip my shoulders and arms were sore. My fingers hurting due to generous use of paddle shift.

6. The OEM headlight is very good no need to upgrade.

7. Had to panic brake a couple of time when I could not spot speed bumps. Car held its line with ABS kicking in.

8. The MRF tyres I feel is more than adequate for the car. I had no instance where I felt the car is under tyred or MRF is sub-standard. I find no need to upgrade Tyres.

Thats it from me. Now I am tired from typing too!

[Rehaan]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[anubshar]

Nice travelogue. Brought back fond memories of the Mumbai Goa road trip I did in September in a self driven Swift

[BUXX]

Excellent pics !!!

Until I made a trip last year, I had a feeling that Goa was to commercialized and not worth a trip. How wrong was I - its just too much fun !!

What was your overall mileage for the trip ? by MID and by Tank-to-tank?

[Wanderers]

Hi tazmaan,

Thanks for the wonderful travelogue, loved the scenic locations and beauty of relatively unexplored places.

Route for my Delhi- Bangalore tour, planned for next year, is purposefully chosen via Delhi-Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur route as I am aware about the unexplored places off and around Pune- Bangalore highway. I hope to spend couple on days enroute to Bangalore from Pune.

[Pferdestarke]

Excellent travelogue mate! Brief yet informative.

Awesome bunch of snaps!

Such a long lonely drive must have left you with some serenity & nice memories.

Your travelogue made me to think on planning one such drive for my self.

[GKMahajan]

Dear tazmaan,

Now you have made my 'travel-palm' itch!
My Jazz V CVT will start begging me to go for 'ek-chakkar'!

I have done a lot of single traveling. However, I have never done it for fun.
For fun, I always need family and/or friends - to share the joy!
In fact, I get mildly irritated as and when my daughters sleep in the back instead of talking!

Anyway, I am curious why you had to use the S mode? In about 1200 km of driving, I have used the S mode only once - while coming down from Saptashringi Temple.

Girish Mahajan

[tazmaan]

Originally Posted by BUXX

Excellent pics !!!

Until I made a trip last year, I had a feeling that Goa was to commercialized and not worth a trip. How wrong was I - its just too much fun !!

What was your overall mileage for the trip ? by MID and by Tank-to-tank?

I got an overall average of 14.5 km/l by MID. My last leg from Kolhapur to Mumbai got me 17.5 on MID which was the best. I got the worst Milage of 12 on 3rd day of travel when I went through the jungle and did Jog falls. All are MID figures. The tank to tank was more or less around MID.

Originally Posted by Pferdestarke

Excellent travelogue mate! Brief yet informative.

Awesome bunch of snaps!

Such a long lonely drive must have left you with some serenity & nice memories.

Your travelogue made me to think on planning one such drive for my self.

Yes memories and time. I was able to notice things which usually goes unnoticed.
For example on my morning drive to Jog falls, I interacted with a few parents who were traveling with their kids to school on bike. The effort, time and energy they put in to get their kids to school speaks a lot about their commitment towards education.

And here in Mumbai I crib when it takes us 5 mins of extra time to get to school! We start honking, blaming the traffic and get impatient.

I returned with a different perspective to time, but I fear the daily grind will take it away soon.

Good luck for your travel, try it once!

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Dear tazmaan,

Now you have made my 'travel-palm' itch!
My Jazz V CVT will start begging me to go for 'ek-chakkar'!

I have done a lot of single traveling. However, I have never done it for fun.
For fun, I always need family and/or friends - to share the joy!
In fact, I get mildly irritated as and when my daughters sleep in the back instead of talking!

Anyway, I am curious why you had to use the S mode? In about 1200 km of driving, I have used the S mode only once - while coming down from Saptashringi Temple.

Girish Mahajan

My 'travel-palm' is always itching lol! Have a Mahabaleshwar trip coming over the next weekend. Not sure if I would take the Jazz or the Innova since its with family!

The S mode was used to keep the car in right gear, inclines, declines and while overtaking. The other problem was after using S mode for some time the D mode was too boring on open roads.

[GKMahajan]

Originally Posted by tazmaan

My 'travel-palm' is always itching lol! Have a Mahabaleshwar trip coming over the next weekend. Not sure if I would take the Jazz or the Innova since its with family!

The S mode was used to keep the car in right gear, inclines, declines and while overtaking. The other problem was after using S mode for some time the D mode was too boring on open roads.

Dear tazmaan,

Ha Ha Ha Ha... You have a very healthy sense of humor. I am afraid I am going to land up messaging you again and again. I hope you do not mind.

Can I make a request - for the 'family' trip also try out the Jazz and let us all know how it goes. Of course, assuming that all fit comfortably - after all the Innova does have more seats!

Girish Mahajan

[sushrutha]

Very good travelogue & nice pictures too

Originally Posted by tazmaan

The road is along the Kaveri river and is through dense forest,

It's Sharavathi river. Not Kaveri

[tazmaan]

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Dear tazmaan,

Ha Ha Ha Ha... You have a very healthy sense of humor. I am afraid I am going to land up messaging you again and again. I hope you do not mind.

Can I make a request - for the 'family' trip also try out the Jazz and let us all know how it goes. Of course, assuming that all fit comfortably - after all the Innova does have more seats!

Girish Mahajan

Its just 3 of us but I am going to carry my 3 years old son's bicycle, lets see if that fits in.