[ssathiyanarayan]

The trip to Goa – Most planned unplanned trip ever

Plan:

The weekends with sandwiching adjoining holidays meant that a long weekend was on cards. The destinations were debated and unanimously Goa came out on top. There was an overcast weather forecasted and our team were prepared to take things head-on.

Sep 28 - Day 1: Start of trip 05:00 am and stop at Kolhapur for Mahalakshmi Darshan
Sep 29 - Day 2: South Goa visit
Sep 30 - Day 3: South Goa visit
Oct 01 - Day 4: North Goa visit
Oct 02 - Day 5: Start 04:00 am from Goa. Return to Pune

The above with detailed itinerary was the solid plan. I was raring to take Optimus out for a trip finally. The beast was overdue for a proper road trip. What more than a trip to Goa. Hotel bookings were tentatively put in place. Total of 08 families committed. Adults - 19, Children - 04, Infants – 01. Car committed 05.

Unplanning strikes:

Days before the things were to take shape, things suddenly went for a spin. One by one, everyone came up with something or the other to drop out of the trip. Lots of jovial and few heated unexpected exchanges took place as too much had been planned and even financial commitments were made accordingly. I was even contemplating whether to take the trip or drop out and go on a separate outing altogether. At last common sense prevailed over through my better half’s word. Finally, on 28-Sep-23 the night before the start of the trip, it was decided to take the trip. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I’m found of planning things meticulously and executing them to the last T. For me it was a slap on face – totally a far cry from my style of planning and travelling. I thought why not take this challenge and go ahead.

Travelling advice and kit:

It was midnight when we booked hotels, planned route and the vehicles to take. What to do and what not to. My travelling advice and kit for the members were below:

Travel as a pack and don't leave the group. This will help to save valuable time in searching for the missing member. Also comes in handy to aid others during some emergency or distress. Download an offline version of Google maps of the travel area, will help to save navigating to the nearest point even in case of no signal and others to reach and rescue you.

Pointers for travelling:

• Moderate to Heavy rains predicted everywhere - so kindly have an umbrella or raincoat ready for every user.
• All cars to have a rain bags necessary - will help to avoid the wet clothes spoil the car interiors.
• Old rag cloths - to clean the wet interiors. We may stop for a photo shoot and may get wet despite the rain gear. The old rags can then be used to clean the interiors immediately without getting the interior wet.
• Pumps / air compressor, puncture kit, hazard triangle - we are going a long trip and to manage punctures the air compressor might come in handy.
• Fast tag recharge - have sufficient funds in the fast tag for passing through various tolls.
• Medicines - carry basic ones like Paracetamol 500, Dolopar, Avomine. Don't forget to carry any special medication. Especially for kids bring the entire medicine kit with you for Cold, cough, fever, stomach-ache, diarrhoea.
• Fuel and air top ups - Fill before you start, both fuel and air. Install the Fuelio app to get the list of fuel stations in route or use Google to find the best fuel stations with basic amenities for topping up and bio breaks.

You can’t stop a paranoid mind from alerting people even at that time.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Day 1: 29-Sep-23 – The start of the trip

Finally, the moment came to start for the trip. Final headcount details:
Families: 05 nos., Adults – 13 nos., Children – 02 nos., Infants – 01 no., Cars – 03 nos. (Honda City 5th gen, Tata Tiago XZA+, Tata Altroz XZ+ DCA)

I had an option for start ahead of the pack, as my better half’s commitment was called off at the last minute, Our car had an option to start late with the rest and travel or start early and break at Kolhapur for Matha darshan enroute. We picked the latter and started by 09 am on 29-Sep-23. Quite an unusual time to start for the journey to start. I hate traffic jams basically and the time of start meant I’m going to encounter full fun of traffic all through the run. Also, this is much against my rule to travel in packs on long trips. Went straight to the petrol station after picking the route running through the outskirts.

Odometer: 2856 kms
First fill: 27 litres

First leg of the journey - Kolhapur:

The first pit stop came very early, since we didn’t have breakfast. The reason was me and better half decided to have homemade food at least for the start of journey as the reminder was totally dependent on outside food. Stopped on the outskirts of Saswad by tree shade to have an old school breakfast on journeys. Some yummy idlis and we resumed our journey by 11 am. I was praying that no one should stop any further and we should go ahead to reach destination which was a halt at Belagavi before night fall. By 2 pm we stopped for a quick lunch some 30 kms before Kolhapur. Fortunately had some good company in the form a Merc and a Q3, who were driving sensibly than the rest. Spotted the new Toyota Hilux for the first time on road in India. Had a glimpse of the vehicle and was glad that finally Toyota thought of bringing some good utility vehicle to Indian market. Gave Optimus the much-needed stretch and with fellow drivers understanding and reciprocating the drive became a good experience. Gladly things went well and with much support of the good roads baring a bad patch at Karad due to road expansion, reached Kolhapur by 03:45 pm. We went straight to Mahalakshmi Matha darshan. The climate was lovely. Finding a parking was huge task, luckily we got some help and parked at a place very close to the temple premises. Had a great darshan despite the huge crowd at the temple.


First pit stop for breakfast


Family pic at Kolhapur temple


Kolhapur and places nearby


The Golden sky

Approaching the first night halt:

We started back after having a nice tea at the shops nearby temple area. It was 05:30 pm and my sole aim was to reach Belagavi before nightfall. Driving 110 kms seemed doable. Didn’t push hard though and reached Belagavi by 08:10 pm. Checked into the Hotel. Informed my friends that we have reached. During the discussion came to know that none of us followed the same route. City 5th gen had taken Pune – Jejuri – Satara route, while Tiago took, Pune- Daund – Phaltan – Sangli. I was worried more as three vehicles taking 3 different routes and all on their own – a worrying thing. Prayed quickly that everyone should reach safely. One by one the pack came safely. City pit stopped by 11 pm, Tiago reached by 1 am. I had a quick nap and woke up by midnight to receive the rest of the pack. It was decided to start after quick breakfast which was included in our booking. Had a peaceful sleep.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Day 2: 30-Sep-23 – Destination Goa

The next day the pack started to get ready early. All were ready but we had to wait for the breakfast. But it was worth the wait – Some steaming hot poha, Idly, Vada with Sambar and Chutney and finally the south Indian filter coffee made things merrier. Filled the tank and checked the air pressures and started as a pack. We decided to travel in pack. Slight shower, mist and later fog engulfed the roads to Chorla once we started the ascent on ghats. Took some snaps before the fog completely engulfed things. The roads in Chorla ghats were bad and battered by rains. Way too many potholes and to keep up with them during rains, fog/mist was a mammoth task. Thanked the presence of the Halogen lamps over the white led ones, which could have made my life miserable as couple of on goers struck badly. Took extra care not to get entangled into any road accident by navigating safely within cautious driving.


Group Picture at Hotel Uday Bhavan, Belagavi


Groupfie before Chorla


Fog, mist and rains on Chorla


Fog, mist and rains on Chorla

It was by late noon we reached Goa. It was raining cats and dogs in Goa and the roads were way too slippery. Saw one low lying bridge completely engulfed with water. Didn’t want to take chances and get struck in water. So took the safest route despite being more kilometres. Reached the hotel in Baga Beach to keep the luggage safely and have lunch. Finding a veg hotel to dine was a tricky deal in Goa. Still managed to get one nearby stay area. After parking the cars in the parking lot, had a quick nap after the tiring drive and rains. Headed straight to the beaches after a tea break. Kids had some fun time in beach in between the showers. Had the climate been peaceful, it would have been a memorable one. Thanks to the local Police and the guards on beaches, they kept making rounds and warning people not to venture deep in the beaches as the climate was getting worse with time.


Goa entry bridge


Happy kids building sand castle

[ssathiyanarayan]

Day 3: 01-Oct-23 North Goa visit

The overnight rains and continuing downpour along south goa made way for road closures and lot of places getting closed for safety concerns. With rains going too hard and forecast of heavy monsoon showers, we had to drop the plan to south goa. Instead, we chose to go safe with the visit around North goa. Started with Velha Beach. To our surprise the cruise service was still in place with the water sport activities. We availed the services and thanked the stars that the weather gods also decided to side with us. With a melodramatic climate in place, it was a memorable one. Kids especially loved the ride and water sport activities. The ride was covered with lunch and return was completely with rain showers.


Velha Beach Ferry dock


Velha Beach Ferry ride


Velha Beach Water sports group ride


Velha Beach Water sports Banana ride


Velha Beach Water sports Kayaking


Velha Beach Water sports Motor boat


Velha Beach Water sports Speedboat

Next on we were looking to explore Palolem Beach. Rains were playing hide and seek. We got lucky when we approached small ferry boats to take us along the backwaters. A couple of them agreed after long discussions. The walk through the resorts built along the way to the backwaters with lush greenery and trees made it great experience and forget the efforts put in. The boating through the backwaters was really surprise as we were met with a galore of eagles, falcons and sea gulls coming to feed on the fishes. The local ferry boats also had the tradition of feeding some meat to the birds. So, they were not intimidated or shy by presence of so many strangers and people on boats.


Palolem Beach


Palolem Beach boat ride


Palolem Beach rains during boat ride


Palolem Beach Falcon gallore


Palolem Beach Sea gull

It was again rainy badly. With fuel dropping down and people going travel sick, decided to have a quick dinner, and wind up at hotel. Driving in rains with heavy traffic was another lucky bad experience.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Day 4: 02-Oct-23 Return journey to Pune.

The monsoon was going bloody rampage and raining hell the previous night. We decided to have some light tea and snacks instead of the heavy breakfast as it was still too early. Packed and loaded the luggage into the vehicle and all 3 cars started back separately. Once I stated the car, was welcomed with everything black on the MID and infotainment, thought everything worked well and Bluetooth connected and played music. I was more concerned as there was nothing to guide me on drive. Was very hesitant to ride. Called some help to my team going forward and they were clueless to help. Dropped some message in the WhatsApp group and contacted my SC representative with details. Being Sunday and holiday didn’t expect anyone to come back with details to help.


Half MID cluster blacked out

I decided to give a break and start once things get back to normal. I was happy that the vehicle started and was going on. Gave it some time to regain its feet but it was not budging. My friends going forward stopped to check on me at the outskirts of Goa. One side of the MID with the speedometer turned up along with the infotainment. All warning lights were lit up as Christmas tree. My friends suggested that since the vehicle was parked int eh raging monsoon yesterday, water should have found its way into the wiring and disturbed the electronics. A good logic behind the issue. They were sure that the warning lights should fade out once the water disappeared from the wiring and electronics area. Being Tata, I assumed that the issue would sort itself out and proceeded to drive based on my gut feel. I told, strictly no breaks till I cross the ghats. Kept the vehicle revving and even placed it on idle when we were busy for some photos of the nice sceneries.


View of Dam from Chorla Ghat

Finally stopped for breakfast before Belagavi by around 10:45 am at Hotel Kateel. It was a very surprising place when it came to food quality. For a hotel located on highway, the quality of food was awesome. Had a stomach full as the timing was too late for breakfast. As the sun was up, so was the traffic on road. Still managed go aggressive fast and furious style, as I wanted to be home sundown. Even my better half reminded me that I was taking too many chances than usual and suggested to relook my style of driving. It struck me then that I was going way too heavy on driving. By now we were closing to Karad and the traffic due to the ongoing construction work was too high. It was also getting late for lunch. So stopped at Hotel Dhani, Karad. Turned out all our expectations were set to be shattered today. Again, this food outlet had the amazing quality of whatever dishes we ordered.

The journey resumed after a full stomach. The road got super crowded and SUV menacing, and charade started. I can’t really understand and don’t know what the underlying reason for this is. Whoever in SUV (especially the Hyundai/ Kia twins and Fortuner’s) thinks they own the roads and expect others to give way to them by honking, high beaming lights, dangerously coming close and intimidating, brake checking. Ignored most of them and continued onward journey and was welcomed with the extremely messed up Pune city traffic.

Decided to take the least travelled route via. Veer dam – Valunj - Theur rural – Urli Kanchan – Theur – to Home. Not a wise choice of route during night-time and with family. But still went ahead with this route, as I had done some BRMs via this route and was prepared on what to expect. But at places, the route is too risky especially if something breaks down and you will be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Luckily 2 cars joined me, maybe they too were shown an alternate route by Google maps. Finally reached home around 09:30 pm. One hell of trip filled with loads of memories, surprises, plan shattering events, unplanned/ alternate activities planned on the go to tackle the brim.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Trip odometer and mileage details:

Odometer at start of trip: 2856 kms
Odometer at close of trip: 4079 kms
Tank fills done: 04 nos. Left with ¾ th tank at end of trip
Mileage: 13 kmpl average with very spirited driving

I was very skeptical with every review pointing out to the engine and gearbox combo being bad, laggy, unresponsive in DCA. Many reviewers told they are having issues with Altroz on ghats and even highways. But after the trip, I can say with all confidence that I’m personally very happy with the responsive nature of the car. Its fairly sporty for spirited highway drives, cruising. Even ghats were handled with reasonable ease. Yes, the engine is puny but not that bad as pointed out by some reviewers. The car is also a miles and mileage muncher – Yes I could extract up to 24 kmpl (momentary mileage monitoring over a distance) with sedate cruising. Got fed up after that as I lost too much time and raced out to complete the trip before nightfall.