[RAHS]

@Dr.AD,

Lovely travelogue and excellent photos as always!

Honnavar is my hometown and I visit there every 2-3 months. I also usually take the Shimoga-Sagar-Honnavar route. It's very scenic.

Kumta is just about 20 KM away from Honnavar. Happy to see the pics coming in from there

Looking forward to your next travelogue

Cheers,
RAHS

[Dr.AD]

Thank you to all of you for your comments, kind words, and appreciation. I am not separately quoting each post, but thanks to each one of you.

Yes these are "regular trips". But what makes these regular trips special is sometimes a great company like we had in this drive, sometimes a nice long solo experience, sometimes a special destination that is close to heart, sometimes some specific photography opportunity (like my birding trip to Old Magazine House), sometime just that amazing sunset magic (like in Hampi), or sometimes something else.

It is these small things that make these otherwise regular drives special to me. I also try to keep varying things and try not to fall in a pattern. I alternate between my two cars which are drastically different, and also alternate between driving patterns such as from highway drives to rural drives, from beach drives to hill drives etc. And then I also keep changing the pattern of the company - from solo drives to drives with my wife to drives with a group of close friends & families to such solo stags only drives with my driving buddies. These variations make every drive special to me.

Thanks again for your replies! Really appreciate your comments and encouragement!

[RakishRam]

First of all, Thank you so much Dr.AD for the meticulous planning, right from inception. Every minute details including starting time, route, meeting points and even photoshoot points were decided in advance. I am sure the other five can only do talking, while you did all hardworking

Drive and drive and evening get together and have fun was the idea executed very well.

Apart from the great company and responsible driving, the delight was nearly impeccable roads overall. I do have a dubious distinction of losing tyre every drive and this was an exception

Let me just add a few random clicks.

A short stop (Which AD didn't approve of ) after a bit of fast curves along with probably Indias only M330i



While the idea was to drive, sleep and drive, I must say the place we chose to stay in Kumta was a pleasant surprise. Great food, staff and easy access to beach at the Om Bodhi resort Kumta.



A customary Hampi click



AD's famous F30 Red looked the best at Sunset.





Finally a summary shot, we drove 1264Kms for around 19 hours. Fuel availability (XP95), wasn't that easy across, so had to use ecopro during some fuel stop runs. Otherwise comfort mode largely and came out with a very delightful 9.3kmpl overall efficiency.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

The three bimmers (I should say "four-cylinder" bimmers, because a six-cylinder bimmer was parked next is not seen in this frame):
Attachment 2574834

Ha ha, here it's when you folks bullied me away for not having a great colour car for sunset photos

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

It was truly an enjoyable time driving with you all. Here are a few random photos from the trip.

Originally Posted by HighRevving

I will just leave a couple of pictures from my phone/GoPro stick/drone.

Originally Posted by RakishRam

Let me just add a few random clicks.

Thank you very much guys for your kind words and for adding these lovely photographs. Truly enjoyed driving along with you guys.

Originally Posted by RakishRam

Attachment 2575250

Beautiful photograph! I know I am biased but I love this photo of the wheel of my car . The 17" wheel that survived the roads without much of a worry and does not look too bad too.

Thank you very much for clicking and sharing this photo @RakishRam!

Thanks again to all of you, and looking forward to the next drive sometime soon!

[NPV]

Forgot this in my earlier post.
Dr AD - did you visit these scenic beaches ?
1. Apsarakonda beach (just off the highway between Honnavara and Kumta)
2. Vannalli beach in Kumta

Also, Mirjan Fort is worth a stop when visiting these parts.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by NPV

Forgot this in my earlier post.
Dr AD - did you visit these scenic beaches ?
1. Apsarakonda beach (just off the highway between Honnavara and Kumta)
2. Vannalli beach in Kumta

Also, Mirjan Fort is worth a stop when visiting these parts.

Thanks a lot NPV for these suggestions.

No, we did not visit any of these places. This was more of a "drive" where the main agenda was to drive hard and drive a lot, and then spend the rest of the time discussing cars and sharing our road trip experiences, and in general having a good time. Sightseeing was not at all on the agenda. The couple of places we visited were just for car photoshoot.

But thanks again for these suggestions. I will keep this in mind for my future visits to that area. Very useful information

[Hypno0784]

This photo



almost instantly reminded me of the iOS 11 default wallpaper

[PearlJam]

As usual, fantastic writeup AD, thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

The return drive from Hampi to Bangalore was a routine drive on the well familiar highways. The entire stretch from Hampi to Bangalore is a combination of four-lane and six-lane highways, and is one of the best roads for a brisk drive. It was a quick, short, and uneventful drive back to Bangalore.

Do you remember how long this return drive took? Thanks!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

As usual, fantastic writeup AD, thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot PearlJam!

Do you remember how long this return drive took? Thanks!

It took about 5 hours of driving time for the return drive from Hampi to Bangalore, in relatively thin traffic.