[BikerKeeda]

Due to our busy schedules, we didn't have any time to discuss where we would go to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. So we just decided we will get the leaves approved and decide the location later.

30 June: Packing
On Sunday, June 30, we dropped my sister-in-law off at the airport and began our journey home at 3:30 pm. In Maharashtra, there is a tradition known as 'Wari' or 'Palkhi,' where thousands of devotees carry the Palkhi to Pandharpur, believing that the saints are going there to meet 'Vitthala.' When the Palkhi passes through Pune, most of the main roads used by the procession are closed to traffic from 6 am to 10 pm. Unfortunately, I miscalculated a few things and got stuck in traffic for six hours. I reached home with a sore left leg, primarily due to constant use of the clutch.

Now, at 10:30pm we started packing and while packing I tried convincing wify that Mount Abu and Mahabaleshwar are same so let's go to Mahabaleshwar. She smiled and 7 am next day we left for Mount Abu.

1 July: Pune-Nashik-Ahmedabad
When we are traveling long distance, we prefer covering at least 700 kms in a day so we can reach destination early but this time the trip was more for relaxation and less for exploration so we decided we will take a stop when we will feel like.

Started from Pune at 7am sharp. Did a tank full to the brim.

ODO: 37090 kms
Distance since last tank full (trip A): 524.9 kms
Fuel : 37.43 lts

We decided to take a breakfast stop in Narayangaon at our usual place but as we were lost in conversations, I missed the turn and we ended up taking a stop near Sangamner.

TIP: If you are travelling Pune-Nashik, you have to take a stop at Hotel Parivar in Narayangaon and try their KADHI WADA and MISAL PAV. Attaching location for reference. https://maps.app.goo.gl/FCyT1WFo6s7Za9f86

We took a stop at Sundar Bhel and Misal Corner. I love their Misal too, I am dropping a location here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fNZL99nchhgNwPAE9




With full energy we started our journey towards Nashik.

It's been 18 months I've driven 39k kms with this beauty (Bolero Neo) but I never tried using the ECO mode on highways as it kills power and it feels like I am driving underpowered CNG car. BUT, for the first time I tried ECO mode with cruise set on 90 kmph, and boy oh boy, the MID started displaying 20+ kmpl. I was surprised to see these figures.

We decided to go Via Saputara just to avoid the Mumbai Traffic, Rain and Bad road conditions between Mumbai to Vapi.

Somewhere after Saputara.


Second tank full to brim was done at Reliance Jio Pump in Gujarat:

ODO: 37551 km
Trip A: 461.9 km
Fuel: 26.44 lts
FE: 17.47 kmpl

We had an amazing Kathiyawadi lunch in Navsari and left Navsari at 4pm. With increased trucks traffic the speed slowed down a bit. At around 7:30 pm we were in Vadodara and we decided to continue till Ahmedabad and stay there for the night.

We checked in at Radhe Upvan Resort in Ahmedabad sharp at 9 pm. The property was amazing and rooms were nice, food and rates were also good.

Dent on Pocket: 3k for Stay and 700 for food.


2 July: Ahmedabad - Mount Abu

While better half was getting ready, I googled things to do in Ahmedabad and one thing caught my attention. Auto World Vintage Car Museum

My wife and I are car freaks, we drool on cars. So it was an easy decision, we left for the the Museum.

Had an amazing breakfast at Bhajiya Wale.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/JEqZgJPjVutzb6iQA


After having breakfast, we walked into the museum at around 10:30 and spent best 2 hours of our lives there. Clicked so many pictures for BHPians till my phone battery died. Will post pictures in another writeup dedicated to the Vintage car collection. Till then Enjoy few pictures here.






Sixty Special Cadillac Fleetwood.
This beauty, I have no words for this one. I was behaving like a 5 years old kid looking at this car. My wife had to literally drag me away from it after 20 mins.




Here is some info about the museum:



We left museum at 12:30 and headed towards Mount Abu.
Reached Mount abu at around 5 pm



We did not do any booking beforehand so had to look around for rooms. Checked in at Hotel CHACHA INN which had good review on Google. I think the rooms were average and highly overpriced.

Dent on pocket: 6k for a night.

Hotel Hilltone had just 2 rooms available out of which one was small in size and the other was far from reception, but the rooms were good and value for money IMPO.

Funny thing was hotel names in Mount Abu: Chacha Inn, Kaka Inn, Dada Inn

Breakfast at Chacha Inn was decent.


Had a good laugh at




Points visited in Mount Abu:

Nakki Lake


Toad Rock


Travor Tank


Driving to Travor tank was an amazing experience. I switched off the car and let gravity do the magic so we could enjoy the bird songs. Traver Tank is a manmade breeding lake for Crocodiles. We got to see one from distance.




We had a lunch after exploring these places and started thinking what next. Do we check in into another hotel, do we go back from here or something else? While having lunch I opened google map to see the nearby places and I saw Udaipur just 160ish kms away

Don't judge me but this trip was supposed to be like this. We just wanted to do whatever we felt like doing. At the moment we felt like heading to Udaipur and at 8:30 pm we were relaxing at The Fern, Udaipur.

3-4 July: Ahmedabad - Mount Abu
The Fern Udaipur is a nice place to stay, they asked for 5500/- including breakfast and we closed it at 4000/- without breakfast. Made the booking for 2 nights.

Points Explored in Udaipur:

1. Sajjan Garh - Tickets for you and your Car
2. Sajjan Garh Bio Park - Tickets for you and Golf Cart (800 for private and 118 per person for shared cart)
3. Shilpgram- 100/- person
   Nice place if you want to experience the village culture of Rajasthan.
4. Lake Pichola
5. Fateh Sagar Lake

Must have things:
Laal Maas from Khamma Ghani Restaurant
Malai Ghewar from Jodhpur Misthan

By the day end, Bolero reminded me that she was running on reserved fuel.

ODO: 38201 km
Trip A: 649.2 km
Fuel: 41.10 lts
FE: 15.79 kmpl

5 July: Udaipur - Navsari

We started from Udaipur and decided to take the Indore route so we can enjoy the the Sarafa Bazar food but after crossing Udaipur wife said she wants to have the Egg dishes I keep on praising whenever I visit Navsari for my work. So we asked Google aunty to reroute and guide us to Navsari so we could have Anda Gotala and Garib rath
Both dishes were amazing.

On the way Refuel:
ODO: 38394 km
Trip A: 193.2 km
Fuel: 10.46 lts
FE: 18.47 kmpl

We checked in at the Royal Regency Navsari. The rental was 2000 for Super Delux room.


6 July: Navsari - Nashik - Pune

I collected Fresh Fafda from Shakti Fafda. (You need to order one day in advance Mobile Number: Bunty Bhai: 9825549446

Visited a Diamond Cutting Polishing Factory in Navsari as wify wanted to see how do they Polish diamonds.

After spending good time at factory we started our return journey.

Refuel

ODO: 38825 km
Trip A: 430.5 km
Fuel: 24.57 lts
FE: 17.57 kmpl

Had lunch in Saputara, and decided we will take a stop at Saptashrungi Mata temple at Vani.

It was foggy with visibility till 10-15 feet while going up the ghat section. We went via ropeway which was very convenient. Attended 7pm Sanj Aarti and came down by Ropeway.

Now the tricky part started. Because it was dark and foggy the visibility had dropped to 7-10 feet. Whenever you face such situation, turn the fog lamps on, use dipper, adjust the headlight levels to Lowest position and keep the google map running which will give you idea about the approaching turns.

Once this is done, you need to concentrate on the road surface to observe reflectors, if there are no reflectors then white marks and keep moving slowly .



We had dinner at Burger King at College road in Nashik and started for Pune at 10:30 pm.

At 11:56 pm, we completed 2000 kms of this amazing trip.


At 1:56 am, Parked the car in parking with 2187.7 km on trip meter.

Last fuel up to calculate the mileage:

ODO: 39232 km
Trip A: 406.9 km
Fuel: 25.32 lts
FE: 16.07 kmpl

We missed on a lot of spots, but that was never a purpose behind this trip. It was supposed to be spontaneous and mind relaxing journey. We lived every moment of it.

Bolero Neo proved itself yet again. Every kilometer I add on ODO, I fall in love more and more with it. In past 18 months, we have travelled through 8 states and 39k+ kms together and Bolero has never failed to impress me.

I have installed suspension buffers by Roger, to contain the body roll. They are working perfect but wife and I are feeling urge of upgrading the suspensions, considering ARC suspension after I saw the improvement in my friend's THAR on our SPITI trip. Let's see how it goes.

The ECO mode was never used prior to this trip and I regret now The mileage figures are just amazing after using ECO mode, and Cruise at 90 kmph.

Next trip?

Southern part of India.

When?
Some Saturday @ 6 am

Till then, Cheers!!

[urbanzameendar]

This is the kind of trip one would dream of with the better half. Brilliant pics. I totally thought you'd spend a day at Saputara though, since it's peak visit time during the monsoons.

Great writeup.

[BikerKeeda]

Originally Posted by urbanzameendar

I totally thought you'd spend a day at Saputara though, since it's peak visit time during the monsoons.

That thought did cross our mind but we had some work in Pune the next day so we decided not to stay there. Otherwise we would have definitely stayed either at Saputara or Nashik to enjoy the wine.

[Raghu M]

Man, I envy you. This is exactly what I feel should happen someday in my life but that day just doesn't materialize. I guess, we should just push for such things rather than wait for it to happen. Great travelogue by the way and your Neo looks just stunning. I had a huge crush on this machine before I got my 3OO. It was the diesel only transmission that drew me away from it. However, I still admire one when I see on the roads. Wish you many more unplanned and successful trips!

[Kkumar]

Wonderful travelogue with beautiful photos. Waiting for your next article with more photos of the Vintage cars. Thanks for sharing.

[Bhupi_BHP]

An amazing travelogue with an equally amazing pictures. My wife was working in Pune before shifting to Delhi for our wedding. She is an avid traveller and she absolutely loves Western ghats and always keep talking about her trips. After reading so many Western ghats travelogues and seeing all the pictures, even I'm very keen to experience this amazing region. Let's see when does the plan materialises.

BTW, those are some seriously fantastic mileage numbers. I own a 2016 TUV300 84bhp and the best mileage I have ever got is 13.34 kmpl with majority of running on highway with full time AC. If I talk about city mileage, i hardly get between 11-12 kmpl. I'm not a sedate driver, but not a pedal to metal guy either. Those are some dream numbers for me. And yes, I never use the eco mode as it makes the car so sluggish that I have disabled it within a few seconds every time I tried it.

Would love to know the mileage figures from other TUV/Bolero Neo owners.

[BikerKeeda]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I guess, we should just push for such things rather than wait for it to happen.

Just go for it, everything falls in place automatically.

Originally Posted by Kkumar

Wonderful travelogue with beautiful photos. Waiting for your next article with more photos of the Vintage cars. Thanks for sharing.

Soon when get some time.

Originally Posted by Bhupi_BHP

Would love to know the mileage figures from other TUV/Bolero Neo owners.

I have met few travel agency drivers who are getting 19-20 kmpl with ECO and 80 kmph speed on highways regularly.

I always do tank full, and keep a fuel log on MahindraForYou app. The average mileage till now is 15.25 kmpl.
The worst mileage I have got is 10 kmpl when we had to drive on 1st gear through slush for 2 hours up and 2 hours down at Kunjum pass last year.

My cousin owns 2016 TUV300 and he also keeps on sharing the low mileage figures. 11-13 on highway.

[Bhupi_BHP]

I have met few travel agency drivers who are getting 19-20 kmpl with ECO and 80 kmph speed on highways regularly.

I always do tank full, and keep a fuel log on MahindraForYou app. The average mileage till now is 15.25 kmpl.
The worst mileage I have got is 10 kmpl when we had to drive on 1st gear through slush for 2 hours up and 2 hours down at Kunjum pass last year.

My cousin owns 2016 TUV300 and he also keeps on sharing the low mileage figures. 11-13 on highway.[/quote]

Thanks for this useful information. 19-20kmpl is something which I never thought of with TUV. Even I follow tankful to tankful method and track the mileage on fuelio app. Your cousin's mileage numbers match with mine. I guess Mahindra have also made some other improvements with time which has led to increase in efficiency. As always, the initial buyers like us are the gueina pigs for them.

Regarding eco mode, I tried in the past and again tried hard to use after reading your post. However, I have realised it's not for me and have decided to make peace with whatever numbers i'm getting.

Anyways, thanks a lot for your valuable inputs ��