Hello everyone, after a short delay of around ~9 months, I've finally decided to pen down my first travelogue! Please do excuse any oversights/ mistakes that I might possibly make, thanks!
Let's rewind back to May, 2023. Congress had just won Karnataka and the RBI had just announced that 2000 rupee notes would be removed from circulation by September 2023. Meanwhile, my family sat down to deliberate upon where the last family vacation was going to be, before I left for college.
We've travelled
ALOT as a family, ever since we were young, our parents made it a point to travel and show us new places and different cultures which is great and all, but now we had practically very few decent options to choose from. After a healthy dining-table discussion and many vetoes by the president and the prime-minister, a place was finalised. We were going to Mahabaleshwar!
Now the only issue was, my parents could only take 4 days off due to work commitments, which meant that we did not have a lot of time. Since I had just finished my board exams, the burden of planning the trip was dumped
onto my shoulders.
The dates were the 3rd to 6th of May, and so the planning began!
Travel Details
There were 2 questions that needed solving; a) How were we going to get there, and b) How were we going to move around once we were there.
I strongly advocated for us to drive all the way but since my dad had to get back to work the very next day, that plan was scrapped. Although a compromise was made, we would catch a train to Pune and then rent a car for the 4 days we were there. This would solve both problems and made me very happy.
Car Rental
Again, the task was delegated to me and after a bit of research, the decision was between Zoomcar and Revv. I looked at alot of reviews online and had read about alot of problems at zoomcar, which is why Revv was chosen. We booked a Honda City CVT (the same car we had back then) so that my dad could get comfortable with the car immediately. Little did we know that a small surprise was in store for us.
Hyderabad - Pune (2nd May)
After a healthy amount of last minute packing, we reached the station and boarded the Duronto express @11pm. The train was comfortable enough and I awoke at around 6am to a beautiful sunrise and random scenery.
Day-1 (3rd May)
We were slated to reach Pune at 9am, and at 8am, we received an interesting phone call. It was a revv representative who informed us that the City would not be available since it was involved in a crash, and that we would get a Maruti Ciaz AMT instead.
Me and my dad made an audible groan from the top berths since we knew lugging that lazy 1.5L with the Automatic was not going to be an enjoyable task. Funnily enough, back in 2011 when we went on a trip to Mahabalipuram, my dad had booked an I10, but it was involved in an accident just the day before, and we got an Esteem instead.
We finally reached Pune @10am and the driver from Revv was already there waiting for us.
Pune Railway Station There she was! Our companion for the next few days. The handover process was very smooth, and the driver completed all procedure before handing over the keys to us. I did notice however that every panel was a different shade of grey, which was funny, but not unexpected.
1) Pune to Mahabaleshwar
Arguably the most anticipated part of this trip. We set off from the railway station and were almost immediately engulfed in traffic. However, dad is a great planner and we found the most efficient way to get out of Pune and had gone through the route together so many times, that it was imprinted in our heads. After an hour of not-so-great Pune roads, we stopped to get breakfast and then it was highway time!
Smooth roads,
Life is a Highway - Rascal Flatts, playing on the radio, and banter is all one needs on a long drive. The car was behaving sluggishly, as expected and we were having a tough time figuring out Overdrive and the gearbox in general. One plus point though, would be the fact that all our luggage fit in seamlessly, and all 4 people were more or less comfortable in the car.
Uh-Oh
What good is a family trip without some amount of drama, eh? The check engine light came on as we started ascending and put a temporary hold on the trip. We called the Revv representative and informed him of the same to which he replied, "It's okay sir, as long as there are no noticeable issues on the car, you can continue on your trip". Which was essentially a more formal way of saying "Saab kuch nahi hoga". We sat and discussed it for a while and then made the decision to continue, while baby-ing the car as much as possible.
We did this because we were already short on time and did not want to wait more time for a replacement car. It was a gamble, but it was one that worked out for us.
Stop 1 - Mapro Food Park https://maps.app.goo.gl/ehzfq9sJ7NHkmdC69
We were getting hungry as it was already 2pm, and made a last minute decision to stop here for lunch. It turned out to be one of the best places we visited on the trip and I highly recommend it. Great Parking, Lots of interactive activities, Great food, and fresh produce. It was lovely!
I also checked the tyres at this point, and noticed that all of them were on the lower side. The portable tyre inflator we brought along with us proved it's use.
The final 30kms to the hotel were un-eventful, we passed Panchgani and we soon reached the hotel.
Parked! Hotel https://maps.app.goo.gl/TEH7r4KkSjSjEEBz5
It's a small property, and it's not in a very crowded area. Overall facilities and the environment were decent, and I have no complaints whatsoever.
We took rest for a while and decided to head out to the next activity of the day, which was go-karting!
2) Saj on the Mountain - Velocity Entertainmentz
Great fun as always, the track layout was good, but lots of sections were unpaved, and
ALOT of the track was extremely bumpy. Exhilarating, but people with back issues should probably stay away.
After go-karting, we went to have dinner at JK Garden Family Restaurant
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nr3SJXh5oWpu3eN68
Polite people, and amazing food. Really helped us wrap up the long day. With that Day-1 was done!
Parting pictures