[KarthikK]

The shaping up of the plan

In the southern part of the country, at least the western wing of the south (KA / KL), the rainy season brings with it an early relief from the summer heat, recharges the greenery in the mountains and plains alike, and brings with it a whole different aura of gloomy grey skies, swollen rivers and streams, rain drenched roads and ushers in a mesmerising green cover through once parched lands. For some of us enthusiasts, this is the season to enjoy an entirely different realm of nature and savour the varying sights of the magnificent mountains, streams and jungles that make up the western Ghats, (being drenched in) heavy rains and slushy terrain being gladly welcomed as part of the package.

BHPian and good friend Dr.AD usually plans some interesting roadtrip during every year's monsoon season for a friends' group (all BHPians). It is another matter that he does umpteen drives of his own almost every weekend, monsoon and otherwise to all parts of south and west India. With this particular friends' group alone, there were 3-4 different convoy trips Dr.AD had organized, around different roads exploring the western ghats of Konkan during the past few years.

Monsoon season 2024 saw surplus rains in most parts of southern and western India, so the chef of the plan got to work, carving out an itinerary recipe involving all SUVs this time. I unfortunately missed a few of the past drives, but this time I was lucky to be able to join the monsoon drive. Thanks in advance to Dr.AD for taking the time out to carve out this entire driving route and itinerary and taking care to arrange all the logistics for all participating members involved. I did not take any of my vehicles this time, and had fun taking turns riding shotgun with all the cars in the group and sharing the driving, thus getting an opportunity to enjoy experiencing different SUVs in their element.

The final line-up of the convoy ended up as 5 SUVs with 7 folks joining:
Dr.AD - Thar petrol 4x4
robimahanta - Thar petrol 4x4
tilt - Thar diesel 4x4
graaja - Fortuner 4wd
abirnale - XUV7OO awd
Reserve drivers - praveenbalan and myself (KarthikK)

The itinerary was simple yet complex . Dr.AD had deliberately chosen some less common ghat sections to zig zag between the western (Konkan) coastline and the plains and plateaus of southern Maharashtra. The heavy rains introduced some unpredictability regarding certain ghat sections which could possibly risk closure and need us to take longer detours, so we were almost always on tenterhooks expecting a diversion of the planned routes to our destinations. This was a nice way of exploring the lovely monsoon landscapes by taking things the way they came. In brief the itinerary looked something like this:

Day 1 involved getting down to the coast from Bangalore to Goa via Anmod ghat
Day 2 involved ascending from Goa to Kolhapur via Anuskura ghat
Day 3 involved descending from Kolhapur to Sawantwadi via Radhanagiri dam and wildlife reserve and ascending to Belgaum via Tilari ghat.
Day 4 was a leisurely return journey from Belgaum to home sweet home (Bangalore)


Day 1: The rains welcome the SUVs

We had all decided to leave early from Bangalore in order to beat the traffic and get a head start on the ~600 km distance to Goa, knowing fully well that we would be forced to reduce our pace once the battering rains met us in the ghats. robimahanta would join us directly at Goa due to a delayed departure. graaja joined us all the way from Coimbatore and he was on his very first long roadtrip with his spanking new Toyota Fortuner, so he had left a bit earlier than the rest of us to drive at a relaxed pace. The first meeting point for the group was the familiar Apoorva resorts, Davanagere, roughly 270km from Bangalore.

On the first day, until Hubli I was riding shotgun with veteran roadtripper abirnale and his XUV7OO, which effortlessly munches miles on the highway, early morning rain not withstanding. Soon we caught up with the others one by one.

Catching up with graaja's Fortuner somewhere near Tumkur



Those of us who caught up then stopped at the recently operational A2B near Sira for a quick cup of coffee.



abirnale's XUV7OO, Dr.AD's Thar and graaja's Fortuner take a quick breather while the members refuel with some coffee in the rains





It was a fantastic experience riding shotgun with the roadtripping ace and veteran driver abirnale in his fantastic XUV7OO and learning so many things from him on travel, photography and everything else. His knowledge on the interior regions of KA, MH (and I'm sure many other places) is astounding and remarkable. Here is a picture from aboard abirnale's XUV7OO



We reached Davanagere a bit earlier than the others, so we had a bit of time to line up the XUV for this timepass shot in front of the resort's name board and fountain.



Soon the others also arrived and we proceeded to have a sumptuous breakfast of Davanagere Benne (butter) Dosas, Vadas, filter coffee and kesaribath (Shira in MH) after the long drive for breakfast



After breakfast we all got back to our respective cars and proceeded to the next meetup point on the Hubli - Dharwad bypass - Big Mishra Pedha's highway outlet. En route abirnale and I stopped for a quick refuel on the outskirts of Hubli city. This wacky car accessories shop caught my eye while entering Hubli - Dharwad bypass. Multi-color, glow-in-the-dark hub caps anyone ?



Soon after making our way through the train of slow trucks on the annoying single-lane Hubli - Dharwad bypass, we reached the Big Mishra Pedha highway outlet. By then the rain had fully set in and it was pouring cats and dogs, albeit in bursts typical of monsoon rains.



This place had a live Pedha counter to savour this famous local sweet delicacy (Dharwad Pedha - made of condensed milk) along with some other local sweets of this north Karnataka region, such as Kunda (a kind of thick Basundi), Karadant (a gummy sweet made of crushed dry fruits) and Gulab Jamuns. We ordered some samples for everyone and had some sweet indulgence at this place along with some piping hot chai.





Up until the Hubli bypass, we were on the standard NH towards Mumbai. However shortly after this mid-day break at the Mishra Pedha centre, we broke off from the NH to take the Ramnagar - Anmod - Mollem route towards Goa. Once we entered the ghat section, the mountains beckoned us with plenty of fierce rains. The greenery around was beautiful to admire though, so we weren't complaining. I had a nice time trying graaja's Fortuner and putting it through its paces on the narrow and rain-drenched roads.

The convoy taking a break somewhere near Ramnagar, with Dr.AD leading the way,





I then swapped into offroad veteran tilt's Thar diesel and had fun riding the massive torque wave of the Thar's mHawk diesel mill, what a vast improvement this Thar felt over our very own Thar CRDe (we had the older gen Thar at home from 2018-23)! In addition to exchanging travel stories, tilt has amazing taste in music, and I had nice fun enjoying some lovely retro 80s pop and rock numbers while cornering around Anmod ghat's twisties with his Thar.



Uttara Karnataka's rainforests beckon the rains





Stopping at another point for some nice monsoon shots of the glistening wet roads and the SUVs





Dr.AD's petrol Thar



abirnale's red XUV7OO



tilt's diesel Thar



graaja's Fortuner



The rain-drenched concrete road



Parallel to the road, the excess monsoons this time have created another 'road' of rainwater, lol!



The road was in horrible condition, and most of us were glad we were in capable SUVs which could handle the unpredictable waterlogging and moon surface craters which sprung up out of nowhere around every corner. Some roads were shut and deviated into narrow diversions. Heavy rain and mist made the visibility poor in many places.



Passing a swollen rivulet on a bridge, closely following the well-driven Fortuner of graaja.





Our chosen place for lunch was Kantara restaurant, inside Anmod ghat, a simple eatery along the highway. At the time we reached the restaurant, the entire place was under an extremely thick cloud cover and visibility was down to barely a few metres ahead of the car.



The cars parked outside Kantara restaurant, deep inside Anmod ghat



The seating area was large and airy, and kept simple for the casual traveller passing by for a quick stop.



The non-veggies in the group tried a few delicacies, while the vegetarians settled for some simple dal-rice.



There was some seriously heavy storm-like rain with strong winds blowing, which delayed our departure from the place by 20-30 minutes. We then proceeded further on our journey to descend Anmod ghat and entered Goa via Mollem. The rains also gave a break during this time.



We didn't stop anymore once we entered south Goa. The chosen place of stay for the first day was Holiday Inn resort. We proceeded to check in at around 4PM.

Timepass pics at the reception lobby





The rooms were comfortable and nice at the Holiday inn resort. They came with a nice compact balcony to watch the rains too.





We freshened up and caught a bit of the remaining daylight at the resort's private beach. As expected the sea was a bit choppy and there were frequent bursts of heavy rains, so we couldn't stay too long there.



Strolling through the expansive gardens of holiday inn resort







For dinner we had decided to hit a famous restaurant which was just a stone's throw away from our hotel - Fisherman's Wharf. The ambience was fantastic and overlooked a boat yard, but alas it was night, so not much of that was visible.



Throwing some assorted snaps of delicacies enjoyed at the dinner table, most of them Goan dishes of some kind. I particularly liked the dessert called Bebinca.



That brought an end to an enjoyable first day.

[KarthikK]

Day 2: Goa to Kolhapur via Anuskura ghat

We skipped breakfast at the holiday inn resort and checked out of the hotel, instead choosing to savour local breakfast delicacies at a famous cafe called Cafe Bhonsle in Ponda, suggested by praveenbalan. Here is the line-up in front of holiday inn resort lobby, ready to go.



I was co-piloting the Fortuner with graaja as we navigated the crowded roads of rained-out coastal Goa. Here is a picture from atop one of the inverted bridge stretches while crossing Panaji to reach our breakfast place.



Stopping for a refuel break, while I admire the Fortuner's simple yet functional cockpit



Cafe Bhonsle had some nice local delicacies in a simple setting. We got to try some local buns, Vada (we Bangaloreans relate to a variation of this as Bonda) and Puris and Pav served with a combination of three gravies that they called as 'Sangam'.



After breakfast we slowly exited Goa onto NH66 and proceeded northwards to enter Maharashtra. I then swapped to Dr.AD's peppy petrol Thar for the next hour or so.





Stopping at some lovely green patches and a random stream flowing next to NH66 as we entered Maharashtra.







The Thar camouflaged in the thick foliage



Cruising along a deserted NH66 on a gloomy monsoon weekend



At one point we stopped at a small Dhaba to have an impromptu makeshift lunch. The non-veggies went for some local fish fry while we veggies stuck to some simple starters with buttermilk, since none of us were hungry for a full fledged lunch, thanks to the sumptuous breakfast at Cafe Bhonsle.



Post this short regroup break, we broke off from the NH66 and entered the road towards Anuskura. While there were conflicting reports about the road being closed, we consulted locals who told us the route was open and we proceeded.
Stopping for a quick photo-break





Proceeding along the way, we found a nice trail leading to a lovely lake. The SUVs had a nice time getting to the bottom of the trail to click some pictures for memories.



The serene lake



The three Thars at the lakefront



robimahanta's Thar strikes a rustic pose



abirnale's XUV follows





Some drone shots of the location near the lakefront





On the way back from the lake trail, I had then switched to the Fortuner. graaja and I spent a few more moments exploring another short trail amidst the meadows around the lake while others continued onward.





As we continued our journey towards Anuskura, heavy rains enthralled us, at times inhibiting our visibility but otherwise opening up new rain-drenched sights of the mountains every now and then





We started to ascend Anuskura around late afternoon, there was intense rain and later that made way for heavy cloud cover and mist, there was hardly any visibility so we carefully reached the summit.







Following abirnale, tilt and Dr.AD



More short photo breaks en route





The SUVs stopping at what was supposed to be a viewpoint atop Anuskura ghat. Unfortunately the only view we saw was a thick blanket of grey around our eyes in all directions.



After completing the ascent, the rain cleared up for a bit so we stopped and clicked some timepass shots. Here are abirnale's RedSparkle XUV and Dr.AD's Thar striking a pose.



graaja's very capable big bully Toyota Fortuner in action. After driving it extensively on this trip, I was seriously impressed at how perfect this vehicle is for the discerning roadtrip traveller in these kind of environments / usage patterns. Amazing low end torque, surprisingly agile and the commanding view of the road all around are the icing on the cake.





The man and the machine - graaja with his Fortuner. This is the SUV where I spent most of my time switching between the passenger and driver seat. It was amazing to interact with and learn so many things from the humble and ever-smiling graaja on fitness, technology and travel alike (his nickname in our group is 'coach' for a reason), over the three days we drove together.



After these impromptu photo clicks, we reached a small town as suggested by Dr.AD, where we stopped at a roadside shop to enjoy some fresh Vada Pavs and piping hot Chai in the heavy rain. The shopkeeper was shocked to hear that just 7 people had travelled in 5 SUVs all the way from TN and KA instead of pooling together in 1-2 cars !







After the Vada Pav break, we continued our journey towards Kolhapur through the rain-ravaged B and C roads between Anuskura and western Kolhapur. We found a nice patch of meadows next to the road which looked picturesque to shoot a few pictures of the cars. Here was the full line-up





abirnale's well-travelled XUV7OO



The owners were having fun doing their own individual photo sessions too, lol!



abirnale with his trusted steed, striking a 'Reclaim your life' pose akin to the famous Tata Safari ad of the early 2000s.



It was well past sunset by the time we made our way to Kolhapur through the under-construction roads leading to the city. Our choice of stay for the second day was Hotel Sayaji. The rooms were very comfortable and service great at Sayaji as usual.



Hungry after the long day out in the mountains, we relished some lovely Kolhapuri delicacies along with Pizza and some lovely Tres Leches to wash it all down. With this rather heavy dinner we wound up the second day and prepared for the next day of driving.

[KarthikK]

Day 3: Kolhapur to Belgaum via Sawantwadi

The third day needed us to depart a bit early from Kolhapur because it involved quite a bit of driving. Although the third day's end destination was Belgaum, a mere 120 km away, Dr.AD had proposed a picturesque route descending all the way to Sawantwadi via Radhanagiri dam, stopping at Sawantwadi for lunch and then ascending to Belgaum via Tilari ghat, another beautiful set of twisties in the monsoon.

We had an early breakfast at Sayaji's buffet counter. The restaurant was understandably quite empty at that early hour.



Savouring the cheese platter at Sayaji



The breakfast buffet had a nice spread of continental dishes as well as traditional Maharashtrian delicacies. Needless to say, we tried a mix of everything and it was very nicely prepared.



Post breakfast we checked out of Sayaji and prepared to depart. At the lobby, I couldn't help clicking this picture of graaja's luggage (bag pile on the left) and my single backpack on the right, to troll him about a car guy packing for a 4-day trip v/s a bike guy packing for a 4-day trip .



On Day 3, I was riding with robimahanta in his tastefully modified and well travelled petrol Thar. The way he drives the Thar effortlessly like a sporty sedan is amazing (not that surprising given his garage consists of two other peppy cars - the Polo GTi and the BMW M340i), and riding shotgun with robimahanta is a spirited experience in itself, while he puts the car through its paces. Back to his Thar - this personalized nameplate is a lovely touch on the inside.



As we departed Kolhapur towards the south west direction of Radhanagiri, many of the roads connecting to that direction were under water following the monsoon fury of the previous week. Finally after a few detours we were on the right track. Here is a picture of the convoy making its way to the start of the mountains





Soon we entered Radhanagiri ghat section and of course, there was heavy rain again. We stopped at a lovely waterfall and stream next to the twisties for some quick pictures





abirnale's XUV next to the waterfall



There was an impromptu stop at a Chai shop with Potato Bhajjis en route



We continued our journey through Radhanagiri, led by Dr.AD in the front through the mist-laden twisties








There was this lovely backwater section behind Radhanagiri dam, where the cars could go all the way to the waterfront. The convoy did some timepass photo sessions here. This was robimahanta's Thar



The two Thars together



Very gloomy weather at the dam backwaters with strong winds, meant we could almost see 'waves' crashing into the land opening every few seconds







abirnale and praveenbalan posing for the camera with the dam water backdrop





The Fortuner settled among the plants



Once we exited the ghats, we hit NH66 and proceeded towards Sawantwadi for our lunch stop. We had prebooked some traditional Rajwada Thali meals at the lovely Sawantwadi Palace Boutique Art Hotel, and we made it just in time for our booking there to savour some lovely traditional delicacies, while we cooled off in the coastal humidity with some iced Kokum soda mocktail. The dessert was fantastic as well with a combination of flavours of coconut, pineapple and chocolate.



Post lunch we departed Sawantwadi and started climbing Tilari ghat towards Belgaum. I switched to abirnale's XUV once again, and enjoyed the way he was effortlessly cornering through the twisties.



Once atop Tilari, there was almost zero visibility due to the cloud cover as expected. We stopped for some early evening Chai and Vada Pavs of course, at a small shack near Tilari viewpoint





Post this abirnale led the convoy to a nice photo spot that he was aware of, from his previous visits to this place. There was a lovely desolate road which we drove on for a while, now in terrible shape due to the monsoons and the authorities' neglect.





Soon the clock was beginning to approach sunset time. abirnale led the convoy from there to Belgaum, where we had booked our rooms at Fairfield Marriott, right off the Bangalore - Mumbai highway service road. The rooms were quite compact but since it was just for a quick overnight stopover, this didn't matter.





Dinner was a simple affair at the in-house restaurant before we retired for the day. I settled for some simple tomato soup and Spaghetti Pomodoro




Day 4 - Return journey to home sweet home, Bangalore

We woke up to a rainy morning at Belgaum. This was the view of the rained out NH from my room window



Return journey to home was a DIY-style plan, so different folks left at their own convenient time. Some of us met up for a light breakfast at the in-house restaurant



I was back with abirnale for the entire return journey. Here are some rainy sights from the XUV cruising along the Belgaum - Bangalore highway.





We did not take many stops on the return journey, barring a quick lunch break at Shetty's lunch home near Sira. The non-veggies had some coastal delicacies, while I settled for these simple Neer Dosas with Paneer ghee roast.



We reached Bangalore comfortably before the evening rush hour traffic madness started. That brought an end this lovely and memorable trip, and brings this short travelogue to an end too!

Signing off with these pictures of the SUVs enjoying the monsoon season





Thanks to Dr.AD for meticulously planning this entire trip from start to end, and to everyone else i.e robimahanta, tilt, graaja, abirnale and praveenbalan for the fantastic company and experiences over those four memorable days! Eagerly awaiting the pictures shot by the other members of the convoy now , to relive those four days of fun.

[abirnale]

Some connects and bonds are special - together as a group we met on TBhp in 2013, started meeting more frequently and have now made it a routine to meet with families for the past decade plus. We meet often - during drives, otherwise in town for a meal or coffee as well as during our work visits. We seize every opportunity to meet - if it’s connected with a drive, the fun just gets multifold!

This is our annual ritual - a Monsoon Drive with our steeds, we head out for about 2-3 nights drive to some destinations that are sure to have a lot of rains and a beautiful scenic roads. Last year - we missed this ritual. I was eagerly looking forward to this trip. After having quit my last job, I had good time in my hand - and I knew this would be a trip I wont miss!

Since the rains had picked up in coastal regions with lot of landslides, floods, most friends decided to bring their "second" or "third" cars to the drive. For me, #TheRedSparkle is everything I got. So no-brainer there The real surprise was coach and our moderator @graaja bringing a brand new ToFu..err... ToFo. I mean Toyota Fortuner! And the usual Thars of @Dr.AD, @Tilt and @robimahanta. In a way, this was 80% Mahindra convoy and 20% Toyota! @KarthikK and @PraveenBalan joined us shotgun and took turns in all cars as we kept driving through three days.

On Friday early morning, we caught up with the ToFu, later with the Thars and had a great breakfast at Apoorva - my other group of XUV friends (TORC) were incidentally on a monsoon drive too, albeit to a different destination. We met with a few of them en-route. For us the real drive started after we savoured on the delicious Mishra Pedha sweets at Dharwad outskirts and took off to Goa via Anmod/ Tinai roads. The rains were intense - the Tinai section had full blinding rains! It was as if someone would bring a large Tanker and open up two hoses straight at your face with full force! Glad that we made it safe to Goa - holiday Inn. Beautiful winding Goa roads with lush green forest section is my favourite! Evening dinner at Fisherman's wharf was amazing too.

I specifically loved the Saturday drive when which went uneventful - we expected the Anuskura ghats to be closed and a lot of rains - luckily, by the standards of that area, we had very moderate rains. And the road was open too! We made it safely to Sayaji, Kolhapur. The thing we discovered there was shocking - the specific suburb area of Kolhapur was under water - and the residents of that area had taken refuge in the hotels of the town. We had hard time finding rooms the way we needed - twin bed, all in one hotel! The Panchganga river was swollen to the max - the water was just a few feet away from the NH48 road and the bridge over there. It was sight to behold - even during dusk, the vast water was visible from the road itself. This probably was the hint for the Sunday we were supposed to experience!

On Sunday, we took the Radhanagari Dam Road and via Devgad - Nipani Highway, onto Tilari and back to Belgavi was out plan. Just at the outskirts of Kolhapur, towards Radhanagari, the tributaries were on the road, literally. Rods were closed and we navigated through tiny villages, narrow roads and then safely made it to NH66! The return via Tilari was again the best route - misty, rainy, super lush green and fortunately not crowded even on the weekend! Just a perfect monsoon drive!

And like always, instead of returning to home on a Sunday, We chose to stay at Fairfield Mariott for the Sunday night and a leisurely return to town on Monday. To sum-up, this was a great trip - primarily the roads charted out by Dr.AD. The company of like minded friends, amazing time we spent post drives together enjoying best of the food and stays - it was just amazing.

To round up my post, here are some pictures I took during this trip - not in any particular order:



























































Thanks again to @KarthikK, @RobiMahanta, @Graaja, @Dr.AD, @PraveenBalan, @Tilt for being a great sport and taking the roads that are otherwise avoided by many in the peak monsoon! It was well worth it - and a fun one! I think its not the destination but the journey we all took together was more fun!

[Dr.AD]

Awesome report and photographs @KarthikK and @abirnale! Both of you have covered this trip so well. Thank you very much for your efforts in putting together this trip report.

It was indeed a great drive, and a great company too! Thanks to all my driving buddies for the great times we had in this trip. It is amazing what happens when we have some nice cars suitable for the challenge, the challenging road conditions and even more challenging weather and torrential rains, some incredibly scenic and rugged landscapes, and last but not the least, great company all eager to drive and with endless enthusiasm. All these ingredients came together to make this a perfect monsoon drive.

If I have to choose a title for this drive, a posteriori, it would be "The Perfect Monsoon Drive". This was not our first monsoon drive together. We do plenty of drives together, and have done many monsoon drives in the past too. However, this time, for a change, all of us took SUVs and to make justice to that, Mother Nature showered us with torrential rains, and threw in front of us conditions where those SUVs thrived! Our sedans would have struggled badly in the conditions we faced. Thus, after several attempts at monsoon drives where sometimes we had the wrong vehicles or the wrong weather (read clear weather instead of the anticipated heavy monsoon) or the wrong roads (red unexpected good roads instead of the anticipated destroyed roads), finally we managed to get the perfect combination that we always dreamed of when we thought of a monsoon drive! Well, in our last monsoon drive we got plenty of torrential rains and water logging and flooded roads and all that drama, but that time we were driving BMWs!

Finally, in our "Monsoon Drive Take n" (insert a large integer of your choice for n), we had all SUVs, we got torrential rains as expected, and plenty of bad roads too which made our choice of SUVs justified! The perfect combination that we had hoped and prayed for!

Funny how one actually prays for bad weather and bad roads when one drives something like a Thar 4x4.

While on this topic, quoting myself from another monsoon drive report:

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

On a lighter note, Murphy's Law has been toying with me ever since I got my Thar. Whenever I took Thar on a long drive expecting rain and bad roads, I got clear weather and good roads, and whenever I took my 320d expecting a good drive, I got torrential rains and waterlogged streets everywhere.

Happy to say that finally I broke this jinx! This time I took my Thar and oh boy, was I glad I took the Thar! As I mentioned above, finally we got the perfect monsoon drive conditions that justified using Thar. My 320d would have struggled badly in this drive.

Overall, we experienced some amazing mixture of torrential rains, rugged landscapes and scenic roads, plenty of broken roads, thick fog and zero visibility sections, and some mild off-roading too.

Before I share my photos from this drive, let me list down a few notables points that I could think of:

1. This is our regular driving group, with many many trips together and many travelogues also on this forum. However, as far as I can recall, this was our first drive together as this group where we had all SUVs. Not a single sedan (or a superbike, referring to @KarthikK, the famous biker in our group)! Horses for courses, given the conditions in this drive!
2. Our superbike expert @KarthikK, famous for his Ninja 1000 and other biking blogs, joined us in our SUVs instead of riding his bike. He was our designated photographer and writer for this travelogue. (I used to joke with him that only the photos he takes are "official" photos for this trip, and the photos I am sharing below are the unofficial ones )
3. Our friend @graaja did not join us this time in his famous 3GT! Instead, he joined us in his brand new Toyota Fortuner 4x4! Kudos to him for taking his brand new Fortuner and subjecting it to such torture in this drive! Great to see a true driving enthusiast who uses his cars so well, and does not treat them as garage queens! But on a different note, I did miss his 3GT. His 3GT is very much a part of our group, and we missed it this time. By the way, very impressed with Fortuner. I drove it a bit too and loved it. It handled the rough terrain so well, and was planted on the highways too. Lovely machine that is!
4. Given that the rest of us were driving Body-on-Frame SUVs with relatively poor dynamics and heavy weight for the power on tap, @abirnale's famous "Red Sparkle" felt like a supercar in comparison :-) Loved the way that car could handle both bad roads and smooth highways with ease! It was the only monocoque vehicle in the group and we could feel the superiority through fast corners and on highways too. Lovely car that one too!
5. We had three Thars in the group, all in different colors. But most of the times they all looked the same because all of them were covered in mud. Only when I came back home and thoroughly washed my car, I once again believed mine is a Black Thar.

Anyways, @KarthikK and @abirnale have covered this all so well. But please allow me to share a few pictures from my side as well.

Our convoy on way to Goa:



Lovely forest roads between Karnataka and Goa:



Rain-drenched straights:



And then plenty of broken roads, potholes, and non-stop rain:



At a restaurant on the border of Karnataka and Goa, parked next to the famous "Red Sparkle" of @abirnale (notice the thick fog and very low visibility):



And then our entire convoy there:



Heavy rains, visible in front of the brand new Fortuner of @graaja:



After a nice lunch break, we entered Goa and the road quality improved drastically, as seen from this photo of our convoy in Goa now:



Lovely roads of Goa:



Some more narrow forest stretches before we reached our resort (Holiday Inn Resort, Goa):


The next day, we entered Maharashtra and explored some rugged landscapes and lovely hills, and some mild off-roading too.

My Dusty with the famous Red Sparkle:



Some mild trails leading to a scenic lake:



Dusty in perfect surroundings:



The three Thars together (@tilt's Thar, my Dusty, and @robimahanta's Thar):



The famous Red Sparkle of @abirnale:



Brand new Fortuner 4x4 of @graaja looked totally at home here:



One more photo of Dusty in that surroundings:



The convoy back on tarmac, now traversing the famous Anuskura ghat:



Misty roads leading to Anuskura:



At the famous view point in Anuskura, where we had was this thick fog and could not see anything at all of the otherwise scenic views below:



Another view of the foggy Anuskura ghat:



Some lovely roads from Anuskura towards Kolhapur:



A group photo at some scenic roadside location:



Another view:



Dusty enjoying the view of the lake below:



Robi's Thar looking stunning there:



Once again, the Three Thars together (they had to use 4L, MLD/BLD and whatever other acronyms they had to get in and out of that muddy location):



So we covered the first two days so far in the above pictures. I will cover the next two days in the next post below.

[Dr.AD]

On Day 3, when I went to my car in the hotel parking (this was Sayaji Kolhapur where we stayed at; a lovely hotel and one of my favorite hotels to stay in that area), my supposedly Black Thar looked like this:



Driving from Kolhapur to Radhanagari, on our Plan A roads, we faced this:


The roads were closed because of flooding. Reminded me on my solo monsoon drive through that area a few years ago, when I faced such flooded roads everywhere and struggled to find a way out.

This time too, we had to take a U-turn, take some random other turns, travel on some rough and narrow roads through some villages, ignore Google Maps directions for a while (which were taking us back to that flooded river again and again), and somehow, find another road to Radhanagari.

After all that chaos and navigating old fashioned way (without Google Maps), and some tense moments through super narrow village roads, finally we were back on the main scenic roads to Radhanagari.

Finally on such roads, leading to Radhanagari:



Our convoy on the side of the scenic roads before Radhanagari:



Typical monsoon landscapes from the side of the road:



View from the front, as we spotted a lovely location on the side of Radhanagari dam backwaters:



The famous Red Sparkle and its champion driver @abirnale:



Dusty enjoying the lake views:



And these were the views in front of Dusty:



Fortuner of @graaja looking amazing there:



Views in my window:



At Sawantwadi Palace (thanks to @KarthikK for this amazing find) where we had a royal lunch:



The convoy lost in the fog at Tilari Ghat:



At some random roads near Tilari Nagar area:



Cows enjoying the monsoon too:



A parting shot of Dusty on the final day, on my way back, and see how the Black Thar looked there:



Finally, after three days of non-stop torrential rains, in our return leg, we were on this lovely highway with sunny conditions, a total contrast to the theme over the previous three days:


With that, let me end my part of the story. What an amazing trip it was. This was surely a memorable trip and I will cherish these memories for a long time!

Once again thanks to all my friends in this trip. They were an amazing company and that company made this trip so much fun!

That is all then. Thank you very much for reading!

[graaja]

What an awesome writeup of a fantastic drive @KarthikK, @abirnale, @Dr.AD

You guys have covered the trip in so much detail. I will add a brief report of my experience on the trip and the very few pictures that I had clicked (many of these are very similar to pictures you have posted).

As is the custom every year, this year too Dr.AD put together a fantastic plan for a monsoon drive covering Goa, and the interior Maharashtra roads around Kolhapur. But this year, there has been unusually heavy monsoon in north Karnataka and Maharashtra and we were reading about landslides and red alerts every day. So we had made up our minds about the possibility of roads getting blocked and not being able to reach our planned destinations etc. Luckily we were able to reach all the planned destinations though we had to take several detours and minor change in route etc.

I had booked a Toyota Fortuner 4x4 AT, and the delivery date was initially beyond our monsoon drive dates. I was planning to take the 3GT on the trip. But luckily, Toyota delivered the car a week before the drive. And this turned out to be a blessing. Either my GT would have broken, or I would have had a mental breakdown in the remote chance of it making it through the trip. The conditions were that bad. And I totally enjoyed the way Tofu handled these situations.

This was a wonderful trip in so many ways - driving through torrential rains, driving through broken roads without a worry, driving through lush green scenery, the variety of food we had, and the hours of conversations we had in the evenings.

I would like to thank Dr.AD for planning this amazing route and trip, and all my friends for the great time.

Now let me share some pictures.

Sample of some roads we drove through. There were worse sections, but I was busy driving through these that I don't have pictures.







On one of the evenings, we passed through this small village in Maharashtra and we found this vada pav shop. They mad fresh vada pavs. Having those vada pavs with those fried chillies in that pouring rain was just bliss!







A few food pictures.

Fish from Fisherman's Wharf in Goa.


Apple pie from Fisherman's Wharf.


Puri and three types of gravy in Goa.


Seafood thali in Swantwadi palace.


Masterchef grade dessert. Coconut mousse coated with chocolate and shaped like a coconut. First when I saw the dish being brought, I was wondering why they are bringing a half coconut with a scoop of ice cream. It was that realistic!


A few car pictures.














Finally, to summarise the trip, a few pictures of the black Tofu which turned brown.







As I am writing this post and looking through the pictures, I feel like doing the same trip again. Now the wait begins for the next year's monsoon drive.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[robimahanta]

Lovely report guys. Loved revisiting the fantastic locations and the food through the pictures. Sharing a few images from the trip. Looking forward to the next drive.



Sawantwadi town from the palace


Climbing Anuskura






Desserted south goa beach






Lovely Anuskura ghat..unfortunately all fogged up

[arun_josie]

Awesome pics of the green carpet, rains, lakes, falls, mists, wet tarmac, lovely food and the beautiful machines. This looked like a perfect monsoon drive. A great write-up. Thanks for sharing all the details.

The drive pics of Anuskura ghat reminded of our last year monsoon drive.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Following abirnale, tilt and Dr.AD
Attachment 2638148

I think we had stopped at this same location as well

[Highh5]

Wow, summarised and written perfectly. These are some of the drives I look forward to reading on this forum. Always keep me hooked.

[Ikran]

Superb, amazing pics. I am sure you guys enjoyed it more than words could express and how much I enjoyed the pics and this TL.

Off topic question

How do I join such drives/meet ups ex Mumbai for the Mumbai chapter?

[Renaissance Man]

Wow!! Wester Ghats are always sight for sore eyes.

Was wondering if you could share the maps overview if available.

[whitemm550]

Lovely writeup and pictures. you have inspired me to take up a solo journey right up to Bangalore, and yes i stay in Goa, would have loved to meet up with you guys here in Goa

[MahiDesai]

- amazing winding roads
- amazing food pics
- amazing mansoon and greenery
- amazing beach
- amazing cars

What else you need in life to Enjoy this? Simply superb thread.......

I always wonder how to be part of such entourage; someone throw some light please?