Photolog: Chronicles of recent road trips with my BMW 320d

One of the fun activities we did there was a houseboat cruise at sunset time

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Munnar and Other Drives

Since the last update above, I did about 5,000km of total driving in the 320d. This included one road trip across Maharashtra, a couple of weekend road trips within Karnataka, a drive to Bekal, Kerala, and then most recently, a road trip to Munnar, Kerala.

In this report, I will primarily share photos from Munnar and Bekal road trips, with a quick mention of the other trips first.

Maharashtra Drive: I wrote a separate travelogue on this trip, and sharing only a few pictures below for the sake of completeness of this thread. Please refer to that travelogue for more details.

Solo weekend at a rustic bungalow on a beach-side cliff near Vengurla:

Driving around on dry grasslands searching for sunset views:

Sunset photoshoot:

In Anuskura Ghat, on way from Vengurla to Pune:

Sunrise from a weekend at Panchgani, Maharashtra:

Weekend Trips to Coorg: Did a couple of quick weekend trips to Coorg in-between the longer trips.

Somewhere in Coorg, in one of the quick weekend drives:

Drive with Friends to Bekal, Kerala:

In March, I and my wife did a drive to the new "Gateway, Bekal, in our Thar, covered in this post in the Thar ownership thread. Just a week after that Thar trip with my wife, I repeated the same drive with my TeamBHP driving buddies, and this time, in the BMW 320d.

This driving group included my friends @RSUDARSANAN and @praveenbalan driving with me from Bangalore, and @graaja, who joined us at Bekal by directly driving there from Coimbatore. The resort we stayed at was the same Gateway Bekal that I had stayed in my Thar drive just a week before this drive. I loved the resort so much that I did not mind two back to back trips, albeit in two different cars and with different companies.

Our convoy of three BMWs, at a scenic bridge in Kerala, on way to Bekal:

The three 3-ers, in different colors, against the green backdrops of Kerala:

Parked at the brand new resort, Gateway Bekal (a fantastic resort!):

Fortuner of @graaja who joined us from Coimbatore:

One of the fun activities we did there was a houseboat cruise at sunset time:

Sunset from the windows of the houseboat:

Cruising in the calm backwaters, enjoying the sunset views:

The convoy of three 3ers, in the return drive through the forests on the border of Kerala and Karnataka:

Drive to Munnar, Kerala:

The most recent drive was a drive to Munnar, Kerala, with my wife. In Munnar, we stayed at "Chandys Windy Woods" resort, and had a great time there. Thanks to my friend @RakishRam for recommending this place. This is one of the best places to stay in Munnar. Located about 10km away from the crowded town, on the secluded hills full of tea plantations, this resort offers scenic views from every room and from all corners of the resort. The location, the rooms, the restaurant with a view, the food - everything was awesome! The resort also has an artificial forest complete with artificial waterfall, and a small 10 minute trek through this artificial forest, which was an added fun for some entertainment at tea-time!

Lovely roads through the woods, around Munnar:

Waters of Mattupetty Dam:

Landscapes from Eravikulam National Park:

The rolling hills of the national park:

Nilgiri Tahr, the animal that is characteristic of the wildlife of that area:

The canonical tea plantation views:

Driving around in the tea plantations:

Sunset behind tea plantation:

Against the backdrop of the ubiquitous tea plantations:

On the famous "Gap Road" in Munnar:

Tea plantation views from the sides of the Gap Road:

More roadside views:

Waters of Anayirankal Dam, from the sides of Gap Road:

Finally, a parting shot on the famous Gap Road:

That is all from the drives over last couple of months. Now waiting for the monsoon to start, and then it will be time for the annual "monsoon drives" again.

Thank you very much for reading!

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