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Trip to the hills in Seltos with 5 adults & luggage: Few observations

5th June 2024, 15:36 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

The Kia took two tank-fulls of diesel and returned a fuel efficiency of 14 to 15.5 km/l with the engine and AC running even when we took breaks.

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With 5 adults and a boot-full of luggage for 5 days, Coyote trekked off to Munnar. It had been a long time since we had moved full house and this trip brought back a few observations.

The middle spot on the rear bench is slightly uncomfortable as it is raised from either of the side seats. That said it was still manageable for a 10-hour trip and the occupants kept swapping places (with me sticking to the driver seat).
With careful packaging, the boot could hold 2 big strollers, 2 gym/handbags, 2 big laptop bags and a bunch of small bags. I had removed the rear parcel tray for easy access but all the luggage stayed below the rear seat back.
With a full load, the lack of power is felt at times. It is more evident as we gained height and on those steep but narrow hairpin bends where I needed to shift to 1st gear. And the lag is felt when launching from a standstill on such slopes.
Temperatures were hovering between 36 - 39 degrees on the plains and the AC was more than adequate at speed 2. The rear vents help a lot.
Some of the roads were very bad. All that ground clearance of a crossover helped and the car escaped without scraping its underbelly.

The Continental tyres have run 39k kms and still have a lot of life. But they have turned hard now and a tad noisy. That said, I haven't felt any loss of grip so far. I did crash into a couple of potholes including a very nasty one on the Thoppur ghat but the tyre survived. They might last another 10-15k kms.

Two tank-fulls returned 15.5 kmpl and 14 kmpl. The engine and AC were left running wherever we stopped as my mom didn't prefer stepping out much.

This was my third trip to Munnar and this time, we explored two different ends of Munnar - Suryanelli and Marayoor. Visited Kollukumalai Peak and spent the rest of the time at the beautiful homestays at the respective locations. Also worked for a few hours every day with either of the properties having WiFi. On the onward journey, breakfast break at the usual A2B Thoppur and lunch at Thalapakatti Batlagundu. On the return leg, lunch was at The Residency Karur and tea break again at A2B Thoppur.

Now time for some pictures:

Crossed 78k on the way

Palani hills can be seen on the way

Stopped at Chillberg Resort for some tea but they refused saying that it was lunchtime at 3PM

Day 1 ended with 500 kms on the odo

The access to the first homestay - Planters Bungalow, is not motorable. The caretaker asked us to park the car at Kollukumalai public parking and sent a jeep to take us to the property.

The property is situated at a hilltop and surrounded by tea gardens. It is very very windy at the top. Most of the times, it sounded as if we were in the middle of a storm. The weather remained cloudy and windy most of the time, but no rain.

Jeep ride to Kollukumalai is back breaking. Last time, it was just me and my wife who had made it and witnessed a beautiful sunrise. Because of the recent rains and cloudy weather, they had stopped sunrise trips and one could go after 9 AM. Parents and sister-in-law complained about the jeep ride until they reached the top and witnessed the view.

We visited the Periya Canal waterfall as we were told it had a good flow. But it did not. The weather kept changing and fast, so we called it a day and returned (parked the car and took the jeep trek to the bungalow).

Next day, on the way to Marayoor, we wanted to cover Aravikulam National Park but one look at the vehicles parked along the road much before the national park gave us an idea about the crowd inside. Skipped and moved on towards Marayoor.

Hill roads mean 60 kms will take 2 hours and will leave the driver's hands aching and others with a spinning head

Mudhouse has proper parking. There was another Seltos at the property

Coyote was under surveillance full-time while it enjoyed views like this

While I worked for the next 2 days at the property, others took a jeep ride to the waterfalls and view points nearby.

I ate a lot and then worked some.

We also trekked the hill behind the property every evening to watch the sunset. Spotted a lot of birds at the property and kept practising photography.

And then it was time to leave.

While adjusting the vent away from me, a small piece broke off! First casualty in the cabin

Tea break at A2B Thoppur

End of the 1000 km trip

Yesterday, got Coyote washed at a new detailing centre nearby. Decent job done. Out in the light, one can see a bunch of stone chips that the car has picked up with time.