[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thank you, androdev! That pizza is from Pizza Bakery at RMZ Ecoworld (outer ring road, near Bellandur). The Tiramisu was from the same place. I like their pizza, and like their Tiramisu even more.

RMZ Ecoworld is our usual meeting place in Bangalore. There is plenty of safe parking, multiple restaurants, some nice coffee shops (they already had Starbucks; and now they also have a brand new outlet of Third Wave Coffee) and desserts (Magnolia, for example).

Looking at the Tiramisu cake, I also thought the same. In fact, that's where I ran into Dr AD once, unplanned.

Next time, call me if you meet there, I live a stone's throw away!

[TurboOnTarmac]

Awesome trip and amazing travelogue. Thank you for penning and sharing.You both (Dr.AD and graaja) are amazing narrators and also click great pictures.

I did weatern Arunachal travel in Sep (Tejpur-Dhirang - Bomdila-Tawang-Zemithang) and the Eastern was still open my wish list. Infact I made plans for eastern Arunachal for achieving two goals:

a. Drive to eastern most motarable point for civilians,
b. Be the first one to welcome Sun to India on that day

The same travel agent who helped my western Arunachal trip, said he would facilitate the same for me whenever i am ready. The plan i made is to land in Guwahati and 4 days for covering wild Assam (Kazhiranga, Manas) and min 10 days for eastern arunachal drive with halts and exploring points/locales in between (ex: Itanagar, Zero..etc). Keeping additional 5 days as buffer. Thought of having a different route while returning and haven't decided yet on that part. This is next 20+day vacation plan that i have sometime in future (hope i will be able to do it)

Your adventure proves that driving own (my case its Nexon) is also doable but may need additional days for the road and added incentive of exploring few more along the route (like Bodhgaya you did). Problem i have is not having company. I see many posts talking about drive challenges or group trip plans, like yours. How do I get to know these groups and keep my self informed about those plans, may be i would be able to join one such expedition. Appreciate any pointers on how to stay connected to these groups.

Thank you.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thanks a lot.

Arunachal will be a great place for a 15 day road trip. Actually not just Arunachal, but you can also spend a few days in Meghalaya. Wait for the full travelogue by graaja where he will describe his Meghalaya exploration after I flew back. Those photos are amazing. There are some incredibly beautiful places in Meghalaya.

Therefore, I think Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal can be a perfect plan for a 15 day round trip. And sine you drive a Fortuner 4x4, you can actually visit some remote locations too which we could not visit.

Meghalaya will be interesting, will wait for that.

Yes Fortuner 4X4 will give some additional flexibility, that was the only reason for me to move away from 320D around 7 years back to Fortuner 2X2 AT . But you folks are rocking in the BMW......

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

And with that, let me conclude this lengthy travelogue. I apologize for the length, but I had so many wonderful memories and experiences in this trip that I just could not figure out how to keep it short. And writing this report helped me relive my memories.

That was one epic voyage of sorts. Thanks for taking us along for the ride with this travelogue and your photography skills are amazing now!

[kedar_GT]

Dr.AD - Wonderful travelogue and breathtaking sights! I must really appreciate your patience and resolve in so painstakingly documenting the entire journey. Most mere mortals including yours truly would just take in the sights and bank on the gray matter to do the recall. My better half would be truly happy if I can regale her with even 5% of the pics that you typically shoot even on your weekend sojourns.

Hats off to you, Megazoid, Robi and graaja on what would be considered a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most. Would love to catch with you'll during one of the Namma Bengaluru T-BHp meets.

[kvk]

Journey of a lifetime - something I can't even contemplate (even in my younger days), let alone do it - rendered in a captivating travelog for the benefit of the readers. Very generous of you to take the time to share the experience with the rest of us. You are also blessed to have a great group of friends who share your passion and interests. Bravo. Wow!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by OffRoadFun

Looking at the Tiramisu cake, I also thought the same. In fact, that's where I ran into Dr AD once, unplanned.

Next time, call me if you meet there, I live a stone's throw away!

Yes, it was nice meeting you there last time. Sure, will let you know next time we are there for a meet.

Originally Posted by TurboOnTarmac

Awesome trip and amazing travelogue. Thank you for penning and sharing.You both (Dr.AD and graaja) are amazing narrators and also click great pictures.

Thank you very much.

How do I get to know these groups and keep my self informed about those plans, may be i would be able to join one such expedition. Appreciate any pointers on how to stay connected to these groups.

Honestly, I do not know this too. I am just lucky to have such great friends that I met years ago in various Team-BHP meets, and over the years, we became close friends. Even our families are close to each other now, and we are all a big group of family friends.

I would suggest start attending Team-BHP meets (those are usually announced in the meet section). After attending a few meetings, you are sure to find like minded driving buddies.

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

That was one epic voyage of sorts. Thanks for taking us along for the ride with this travelogue and your photography skills are amazing now!

Thank you very much Deepak!

Originally Posted by kedar_GT

Dr.AD - Wonderful travelogue and breathtaking sights! I must really appreciate your patience and resolve in so painstakingly documenting the entire journey. Most mere mortals including yours truly would just take in the sights and bank on the gray matter to do the recall. My better half would be truly happy if I can regale her with even 5% of the pics that you typically shoot even on your weekend sojourns.

Thank you very much. However, it is not that I document every journey. I just write here about those journeys where I somehow get in the mood of documenting it. I also do other road trips where, like you said, I just enjoy the sights and don't worry about writing anything. I do those journeys too, but of course, by very definition of those journeys, the forum members do not get to know about those :-)

Hats off to you, Megazoid, Robi and graaja on what would be considered a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most. Would love to catch with you'll during one of the Namma Bengaluru T-BHp meets.

Thanks again, and sure, would be great to catch up in one of the meets.

Originally Posted by kvk

Journey of a lifetime - something I can't even contemplate (even in my younger days), let alone do it - rendered in a captivating travelog for the benefit of the readers. Very generous of you to take the time to share the experience with the rest of us. You are also blessed to have a great group of friends who share your passion and interests. Bravo. Wow!

Thank you very much. Yes, I completely agree with your point about friends. I am fortunate to have such great group of friends and driving buddies.

[mallumowgli]

That was one awesome trip Dr AD and coach. And an incredible travelogue too - one of the best in the forum

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Since I want to highlight these experiences, this travelogue is not a chronological diary of this road-trip. The rest of the posts do not describe the journey in day-wise format. Instead, I will try to juxtapose different contrasting and thematic experiences together. These experiences are my biggest takeaways from this journey, rather than the mundane day and time details. Although just for the records, let me state that my part of this journey lasted 12 days. The experiences shared below are spread over these 12 days.

Loved this format

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Gumball was just the excuse to give us all the impetus for doing it.

Congratulations Robimahanta and Megazoid for the completion of Gumball

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

So graaja is known as coach in your circles. Noted

He is the coach in all circles

[haisaikat]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Lovely narration and pictures, AD. It was indeed a great road trip covering thousands of kms. Gumball was just the excuse to give us all the impetus for doing it.

Kudos sir, to you an megazoid for completing this cross country trip, or should I be calling cross country endeavour (in a fortuner) Speaks of the enormous perseverance. What more can a motor enthusiast expect than to satisfy their passion in such grand ways. Take care and congratulations for becoming Gumballified.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Non-Sequential Travelogue

(Anonymous) Its that red BMW guy again, who lives down south and publishes one TL a month with great knack for temples and poses tons of photos of his envious machine has published another travelogue. Lets see what's inside . . .

(Huge Exclamation ) Goodness, what a remarkable read, he not only did away with the regular pattern of a chronological travelogue but at the same time showed almost all the extremities involved with road travel be it fun to drive highway tarmacs or unknown adventurous mountain roads that lead to nowhere, from dinning at shiny restaurants to getting impressed with surprise menu at a unknown road side dhaba. And all this mixed with the essence of a mega journey.

Well done Dr. AD, you have set new standards at publishing journey accords in a completely innovative way and it has taken off with a big bang, take a bow and all the best for achieving even more in the days to come. Congratulations to you and graaja for the trip and also putting the blue beast to test. Rated 5 stars.

P.S. - That date sweetner you found in a Rasgullah at Assam, is called Gur (Jaggery made from Date). Winter is the best time to get the best quality Gur in this part of the country.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

That was one awesome trip Dr AD and coach. And an incredible travelogue too - one of the best in the forum

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by haisaikat

(Anonymous) Its that red BMW guy again, who lives down south and publishes one TL a month with great knack for temples and poses tons of photos of his envious machine has published another travelogue. Lets see what's inside . .

hahaha. I was myself bored of the old format, and wanted to try something different to break the pattern. Breaking the pattern of my weekend drives in the red BMW was one of the biggest motivations for this mega drive in the blue BMW.

Well done Dr. AD, you have set new standards at publishing journey accords in a completely innovative way and it has taken off with a big bang, take a bow and all the best for achieving even more in the days to come. Congratulations to you and graaja for the trip and also putting the blue beast to test. Rated 5 stars.

Thank you very much!

P.S. - That date sweetner you found in a Rasgullah at Assam, is called Gur (Jaggery made from Date). Winter is the best time to get the best quality Gur in this part of the country.

OK, thanks. Yes, that shopkeeper did mention Gur, but he also mentioned "khajur" (dates). I think your explanation clarifies it. That Rosogulla was very tasty.

[PearlJam]

Excellent writeup, AD! It's always a joy to read about your travels.

Just curious, didn't you face any RT-PCR checking hurdles when crossing multiple state boundaries?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thank you, androdev! That pizza is from Pizza Bakery at RMZ Ecoworld (outer ring road, near Bellandur). The Tiramisu was from the same place. I like their pizza, and like their Tiramisu even more.

Are they the same as the one located on Church street? Haven't had pizza there but the outlet looked really interesting the other day we were book shopping around there.

How is their pizza compared to Cafe Toscano? (heard great reviews about them from friends).

P.s. OT discussion of course.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Excellent writeup, AD! It's always a joy to read about your travels.

Thank you very much, PearlJam!

Just curious, didn't you face any RT-PCR checking hurdles when crossing multiple state boundaries?

No. thankfully not. Actually no state has RTPCR mandatory. The rules say you need Double Vaccination certificate or RTPCR. Only in couple of specific cases RTPCR is needed regardless of vaccination certificate (e.g. Karnataka still needs it from those coming in from Maharashtra). But in general, if you have double vaccination certificate, you can travel freely across state borders now. Both graaja and I had this certificate. Even that was never checked, only except once at West Bengal-Assam border. Overall there were no hurdles about this.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Are they the same as the one located on Church street? Haven't had pizza there but the outlet looked really interesting the other day we were book shopping around there.

Yes, it is the same chain. They have multiple branches in Bangalore. Yes, their pizza is quite good. It is a matter of personal taste, so I can not comment for all, but I like their "chilli pomodoro" pizza. That is one of my favorite pizzas.

How is their pizza compared to Cafe Toscano? (heard great reviews about them from friends)

By Cafe Toscano do you mean the Toscano restaurant in Forum Mall and in UB City? Or is there some other Cafe Toscano? Compared to the Toscano restaurant, this Pizza Bakery pizza is even better. I like Pasta at Toscano, and Toscano is usually my choice for a typical Italian dinner with Pasta. But for Pizza, I would say Pizza Bakery is better. And the Tiramisu at Pizza Bakery is absolutely the best!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

By Cafe Toscano do you mean the Toscano restaurant in Forum Mall and in UB City? Or is there some other Cafe Toscano?

Cafe Toscano, Jayanagar. Have friends who swear(ed) by its pizzas. Well, more the choice, the better.

[megazoid]

Feels great to read the experiences AD and Robi. I also got to experience the curiosity the blue BMW GT could generate in my part of the drive. It is great to see the diversity in the driving experiences, the food and the hospitality as one moves the length and breadth of the country. Great job capping a wonderful trip with such a lovely thread. As always, riveting captures too. Taking that low slung BMW and making it to all these places is in itself the best advertisement for the brand. Am sure these experiences will stay with you for quite some time.

Enjoyed the writeup!