We also had visits to our family deities near Alathur and Palakkad on our minds, so I came up with a plan to make Kochi and Palakkad as base.

BHPian NPV recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

We travelled recently to Kerala, this time we had a visit planned in Alappuzha so decided to also visit the Ambalapuzha Sree Krishna temple. We also had visits to our family deities near Alathur and Palakkad on our minds, so I came up with a plan to make Kochi and Palakkad as base and start on 28 Dec and return on 31 Dec which would hopefully help in avoiding the Christmas rush in to Kerala and the New year rush in to Bangalore and this plan was quite fine, but road conditions did trouble our drives, details here:

Onward Bangalore-Kochi:

• Started around 4:45am, reached Sree Saravana Bhavan Vaigundam around 8:45am for breakfast. The new normal to Salem is now about 3.5+ hours given that there are multiple flyovers being constructed between Hosur and Krishnagiri
• Beyond Salem also there are flyovers before and after Perundurai being constructed, getting to the 6 lane section near Tiruppur is quite a challenge
• Same story after Palakkad as well since flyovers are under construction, then the traffic lights slow you down
• We stopped for lunch around 1:45pm at Chennai Ananda Bhavan near Nadathara after Mannuthy
• By the time we reached our hotel in Kochi it was 4:45pm, 12 hour drive for 550 odd Km

Onward Kochi-Ambalapuzha:

• Started at 8am from Kochi after breakfast. Once you cross Vytilla, keep your speeds to about 30-35kmp at the entry and exit ramp of every flyover/bridge, the incline angle of the upward and downward joints can make your car fly or hurtle downwards!
• After the Kundanoor bridge, there is NH 66 road widening activity which will slow you down because some sections of the highway are getting an elevated section and the old highway will eventually become the "service" road. Work is progressing at a faster pace now as compared with what I saw in July 2023
• Without any breaks en route, we reached the Ambalapuzha Sree Krishna temple at 10:40am, that is 2h:40m for about 80km on a Sunday!

Return Alappuzha-Kochi:

• After completing our visit at Alappuzha, we started around 3pm and reached Kochi around 6pm, another slow drive enduring the construction zone craziness

Return Kochi-Alathur-Palakkad:

• Started around 8:30am from Kochi and reached the temple near Alathur at 10:45am
• After darshan at the temple we headed to Palakkad and got there around 12:30pm

Return Palakkad-Bangalore:

• Started at 9am and it took us more than 2.5 hours to just exit the L&T coimbatore bypass, crazy road manners of drivers and totally mismanaged and badly designed tolls and traffic lights. Very short 25 second green lights at the Trichy road junction and at couple of tolls, though the boom barrier opened up, traffic was backed up from the traffic light about 200m ahead of the toll. Bangalore drivers went hyper and started going off road or doing crazy overtake maneuvers to get ahead
• I made a blunder by entering Salem for lunch, wasted 30 minutes due to traffic and not finding parking and eventually got out, crossed Thoppur ghat easily and drove to Sai Sangeet Thoppur for lunch at 2pm.
• Took the NH 844 and joined Hosur ESI Ring Road near Chennai Silks and even managed to cross Attibele quite easily
• The Bangalore traffic slowed us down from Attibele and eventually got home by 6:15pm

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Japanese are the most modest and dignified people I ever come across. Tokyo is the most densely populated cities in the world, and yet it is so calm and quiet.

BHPian Vasanth recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

First of all, apologies for deciding to post this too late. But still, better late than never right?

We had been to japan at the right time, when Japan was blessed with Sakura a.k.a Cherry Blossoms, which was between March and May.
It was a 8 day trip. From April 13th - 20th
Places covered :
Tokyo
Osaka
Kyoto
Hiroshima
Fuji

All the bookings were done from Bookings.com
The detailed itinerary was planned and penned down at least 2 months back, and booking was done accordingly.

We had taken a look at the itinerary from so called reputed Travel agents. Looking at the cost and after watching James May in Japan series, Fast and furious Tokyo drift, Hachiko, YouTube etc, oh please! It’s a place you must go by yourself and not depend on anyone.
All they show is overcrowded temples, (plural: temples, it looked more like pilgrimage journey rather than experiencing quirks and features of Japan)
Yes. You should see temples, but apart from that, we should explore Japan by foot, have a drive around the Fuji by yourself, hop on worlds best and most convenient Metro and bullet train.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

I honestly have no idea where to start from.

Stay:
Hotels were booked from bookings.com.
We stayed at the most affordable and cheap hotels. Costing between 7000-10,000 INR, for per night for 3 of us.
Cost vary from place to place. It’s pretty easy to find an affordable place, also cross check in google reviews, google maps to see how far you’re from the nearest subway station.
But you’re never more than 5 min walk from nearest subway station.
At that price, we had gas stove, washing machine, microwave oven, utensils all for ourselves. The rooms were immaculate. No speck of dust, no stains, not even water marks after wiping it down.
So when I mean cheap, it’s just that, you get a decent room with all necessary amenities, and you will not be pampered with bringing your bags to room, opening the door for you, etc.
You do it on your own. Not even in single hotel, we had a person-to-person check in/out process. The main door and your bedroom will be number locked. Email will be sent on your phone, with all the processes.

The commode apart from washing our parts, it also features seat heating. Just like on a luxury car. On the cold mornings you feel relieved before you even take a dump.

Travel:
Japan Rail pass : it is a prepaid pass which is mainly used for Shinkansen (bullet train) and JR Yamanote line (green line) in Tokyo.
We get it for 7 or 14 days pass
It costs around 300 dollars per person for 7 days., with unlimited journeys on Shinkansen & Yamanote.
But remember, you need to book seats for Shinkansen once you reach Japan.
It is valid only for foreigners, you need to book it from your home at least a month prior and they will deliver it to your home.
You have to activate it once you reach Japan airport.
You CANNOT buy this pass from Japan.
Ordered from official website.

Suica Card
It is just like London’s Oyester Card
Used for local transport and many many more things. You can even do shopping from this card, buy things from vending machine, use it almost anywhere in Japan

Drive
As a BHPian, we are born to drive.
We had almost 150km drive around Mt Fuji.
Remember, Mt Fuji is far from Tokyo.
We did not book car from Tokyo.
After first 2 night in Tokyo, on the way to Osaka by Shinkansen, we stopped by Shin-Fuji station. It’s about 60-70km drive from there.
Remember, we need to have International Driving Permit to be able to drive in Japan.

Airports:
There are 2 airports in Tokyo
Narita: far from city, about 1 hour travel
Air fare will be cheaper.
There is dedicated metro just for this airport called Narita Express. There are buses and taxis too.
We landed at Narita in Air India. Air India was again a whole different story. We regret flying on Air India. It’s not bad. It’s worse!
The in flight entertainment system wasn’t working, the seats are torn, wrappers inside the seat back pockets, food stains on the table. How are we supposed to sit idle for 6-7 hours ?? There is no wifi either.

The worst bit, there were so many mosquitoes from Delhi - Bangalore flight.
One of the passenger pressed the Flight attendant call button and telling him, “Sir, Flight mein machar hai”
How embarrassing

The only reason we chose was, it had the fastest and shortest flight time. Malaysian, Srilankan, etc had more than 2 layovers and reaches Japan after sunset. It is also cheaper. We could have booked Emirates, they’ve direct flight from Dubai, but the cost is almost twice compared to Air India.
Air India has direct flight from Delhi. And reaches by noon, and we have rest of the day to spend in Japan.

Also the travel agent’s return flight is from Osaka. It takes more than 16 hours, after 2-3 layovers from Hongkong and Colombo etc. That’s how they trick you into this.

But we have to appreciate the Air India Pilots, every landing was smooooooooth like the Citroen DS.

Haneda: within city limits, air fare will be comparatively more.

Everything in Japan is too damn systematic.
There is literally no errors. The booking process, the roads, Subways, sightseeing tickets, VISA process, you name it.
You don’t have to be smart to know those things. It’s just how ideal world should work.
Just like how instructions will be given on an AC remote. It’s straightforward, simple and to the point and most importantly punctual down to the very second.

SIM/ WiFi
We rented a pocket wifi from Klook website
Everything is given in detail in the website. How to order, where to collect it from, how to return it, it’s completely hassle free.

Food:
We are Indians. The only thing as an Indian I am proud of us is our food.
And the whole world would also agree.
Japanese food is not for our desi tastebuds.
I do not know why people crave to eat Sushi and Ramen from some of the Japanese restaurants in India.

There is no concept of vegetarianism in Japan

Ramen smells of pork and beef
Sushi is raw. It’s RAW!!!!! (In Gordon Ramsey style)

Shopping for food is also difficult in Japan
Every thing, from name, ingredients, is in Japanese. Even Google translate struggles to translate it.. let alone you expect locals to be well versed in English. There are no green and red dots labelled on the items.
Fruits are expensive and rare in Japan.

I have 2 words for their cuisine- Disgusting and Nutritious.

Japanese people have the healthiest and longest living people in the world.

Only 3% of Japanese are obese, compared to 40% in USA and the tags we Indians are getting every year. From diabetic capital and what not.

I have not seen a single person with a remotely convex belly in Japan. Everybody is fit and healthy.

Attire:
We have to be well dressed in Japan. Neutral colours and Dignified, just like every other person over there.

Nobody wears shorts, t shirts, & crocs. If you find someone wearing these, they’re definitely a foreigner.
So we blended in with trench coats, formals, shoes.

Vending machines :
Japan has over 5 million vending machines.
It makes it 1 for every 23 person.
You just stand and look at any direction from anywhere you’ll find definitely find few.

You even get hot drinks like tea coffee latte etc. it will be steaming hot. Just how?

Coffee machines in convenience store:
Yes. At almost every convenience stores they have coffee machines.
You just pay at the counter for coffee and make coffee for yourself.

Culture:
Japanese are the most modest and dignified people I ever come across.
The subway post 6pm will be packed almost like Mumbai local. The fact which boggles my mind is it is pin drop silent inside. There is just train noises and announcements.
Every single person stands in queue to enter the train. Nobody sticks to you and everyone keeps distance.
On the escalator, you’re supposed to stand on the right, and climb up and go on left side. Every single person follows that.
Tokyo is the most densely populated cities in the world, and yet it is so calm and quiet.
People in India modify and put custom exhausts for their Swift and Polos and drive like a maniac.
I have seen almost all cars from Tokyo Drift and they drive with culture! No show off, no attitude.
Forget about major junctions, pedestrians even wait for a green light for small cross roads. And nobody jumps the signal.

Toilets
Yes. If you remember Japan is famous for funky looking toilets. Also, the moment we landed in Japan, we entered the first toilet in the airport.
Every single commode we used in Japan is motorised.
Apart from Japanising food and toilet controls, even the washing machines buttons, tv remote, AC remote, microwave every thing is in Japanese!
This was the first toilet nearest to the gate, we entered as soon as we entered airport at Narita.
Not because it was urgent!. I was clicking random buttons and exploring it. Some of them even features Audio button. It makes fake flush/water flowing noise to cover up your noises when you’re doing your business. How smart!!

This made me feel like I am sitting on a Throne.

It’s not a cafe. This is washroom at Shibuya.

Controls on the washing machine. Even the google translate is not able to translate it well.

Day 1 and 2 : Tokyo
* Yoyogi Park for cherry blossoms.
* Tokyo Skytree at night for the best views.
* Teamlabs planet (please do check out videos in YouTube) it’s unreal. The memories are still afresh. You need to book in advance. (James may had visited here if you remember)
* Asakusa Temple
* Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko Statue
* And some car spotting is must at this Shibuya crossing.

Team labs planet. The photos don’t do any justice. It’s a place everyone must visit at least once in their life.

Continue reading BHPian Vasanth's post for more insights and information.

There was no plan for this vacation. We just wanted to chill at beaches, soak in the sun, enjoy the beautiful white sands and dip in the pristine aqua blue waters.

BHPian mobike008 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Prologue

Decembers are always so festive out here in US, it always brings a lot of cheer, festivity and fun to the entire month with expectations that all holidays bring-Travel, Food, New Places to explore.

We have been always going to Boston every December to meet family but, this time decided to do something different as my sis and family were travelling to Puerto Rico and we decided to do something similar. We wanted to get out of the cold and rains for a week so the planning started in mid_November.

I’m fortunate to have visited 29 states out of 50 states in the US. Many on pleasure and some on work. So I had to hit the 30th state mark.

We focused on Hawaii and quickly discarded as the flights and hotels in December were ridiculously expensive with daily tariff even hitting $500/night.

Next focus was on Mexico, never been to this country so we looked at Cancun and the costs were similar so we dropped that as well.

Florida has always been on our wishlist and we decided to visit the “Sunshine State” and December to February is the best time to visit as the weather will be in 70-80’s otherwise this state is known for its humidity and extreme heat for rest of the year. The flights and hotels weren’t lot cheaper than what we saw for Hawaii but, it was still about 20% cheaper so we hopped on to this plan.

My primary bucket list was to drive from Miami to Key West over the Atlantic Ocean- A beautiful 200 mile drive that I wanted to do in an open top muscle car.

Booked the Seattle-Miami roundtrip flights and hotels were booked for 2 nights in Key West, Florida and 6 Nights in Miami, Florida. We chose Hilton in Keywest and Hyatt Place in Miami.

Next step was to book the car. I was clear that I wanted an open top muscle car. Last time, we hired a Dodge Challenger so this time, wanted to do a Ford Mustang.

I was looking for the V8, 5.0 Liter models but, they were few and super expensive.

So, I had to settle for the base model which didn't excite me much. It was Eco Boost Premium with just 320 horsepower. I got the deal for $120/day with insurance included. It was waiting for us at FLL airport when we landed after our red-eye flight.

There was no plan for this vacation. We just wanted to chill at beaches, soak in the sun, enjoy the beautiful white sands and dip in the pristine aqua blue waters.

And, of course being a hard core foodie, enjoying different cuisines- We didn’t touch Indian food in the 8 days we were in Florida. It was only American, Cuban, Mexican, Venezuelan and Peruvian food that we enjoyed for entire period of our vacation.

Long Haul Flight- This is the biggest pain. 6+ hours is too much.

The most exciting part of the trip- Key West Drive.

Our Rental for 5 days...

Continue reading BHPian mobike008's travelogue for BHPian comments, insights and more information

Tanot was horribly crowded, the queue for the border visit here has to taken from the building on the right side of the temple.

BHPian mpksuhas recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Did a circular trip of Rajasthan couple of weeks back. This was along with few friends who were doing a GJ & RJ trip.  I joined them at the end of their GJ trip by flying down to Ahmedabad from Bangalore and taking train to Patan, Gujarat. Hence no much details on onward journey.

The road section I did was Patan - Barmer - Munabao - Khuri - Sam - Longewala - Tanot - Jaisalmer - Bikaner - Jodhpur -Chitorgarh.

Past that we returned to Bangalore with an overnight halt around Beed.

Details:

Patan to Barmer : Roads are overall good, some sections had patches of bad sections, nothing to be concerned about. Stay at Barmer was at Rishab club , an okay place if you are just looking for an overnight stay.

Barmer - Munabao : Overall good roads, some sections had road work in progress.  At Munabao, you have to get permission to enter station area and also to visit the border post which is couple of kms further from the station.

You have to park your vehicle here, submit your ID proof (one per car) and give some basic details (name / vehicle number / phone number etc). You need to surrender your phone / camera etc here, once the commanding officer gives a go ahead, you can proceed past that. When we arrived, the officer was in a meeting and hence had to wait for some 30 mins to get the approval. We were a group of 14 people in 5 cars, so they asked us to group in to 2 cars and proceed to border after parking the remaining cars at this checkpost.

Apart from us, there was only 1 car at the checkpost. The border view area, there seems to be some work happening there for tourists. A better viewing gallery and toilets seems to be in construction.

The station will take some 10 mins to roam around.

Between Munabao & Khuri, after village of Rohiri, you will come across sand dunes next to road. That was the most beautiful section of sand dunes I felt, not crowded, no trash & next to beautiful road.

At Khuri, we stayed at Dessert trails Khuri, beautiful place. Would suggest to anyone looking for stay options around here.

Next day, we drove through dessert national park towards Sam. This road is broken and can be taken only slow, even past Sam, for few kms the road is not in great condition. However, soon one will join the new Bharatmala road and then onwards its smooth tarmac.

Longewala war museum was bit crowded, but a good visit. Will take close to 2 hours to see around. Do note that its NOT next to border and one can't see the border / fence if

Tanot was horribly crowded, the queue for the border visit here has to taken from the building on the right side of the temple. The queue here is badly managed and overrun by drivers & agents who usually accompany the day tourists from Jaisalmer.

Location of building for permits

We were able to manage permits from the BSF office through some contact we had when the other queue was not moving inspite of waiting in that for some 30 mins. Once permits are received, its a small drive to the border from here. Unless one is keen to see the border fence from this side / havent seen any border fencing, I would suggest skipping this since its not worth the effort in my view. Added to that, you can only go till around 300 meters of the fence, one is not allowed till fence here.

Again, Tanot - Jaisalmer is beautiful roads. Our stay at Jaisalmer was at Nachana Haveli, another beautiful property managed by the same person who were owned the Khuri stay also.

Two days around Jaisalmer was spend mostly on foot.

From Jaisalmer, we headed to Jodhpur via circular route through Bikaner. Bikaner fort again, I would have skipped if doing this trip again. Nothing much compared to other forts + its mostly a closed museum kind of fort. Hence you have limited scope in enjoying the same.

Visited Karni Mata temple enroute and then headed to Jodhpur.

Bikaner to Jodhpur - We took the half constructed - Amritsar - Jamnagar E way. The road has been mostly patched up now after the online debate about the bad quality of work. There are rough patches around, but not an issue overall. However, a surprisingly large number of sleepy truckers in this section. We had two close calls on this section with trucks moving across lanes.

Jodhpur we stayed at Hotel Rajwara palace. Clean rooms, spacious rooms, would suggest to the same. Just that parking is just outside the hotel. Though didn't feel that it was unsafe.

Jodhpur sightseeing apart from that to the fort was on foot / auto.

Fort has manageable wide roads + proper parking, hence taking car to fort is not an issue.  Also, there is a walkway to the fort, if you are interested, do try that. It gives good view of the surroundings too.

From Jodhpur we headed to Chittorgarh and stayed at Grand Chittor, nice place to stay, good parking space.

Fort visit was wrapped up in some 4 hours, though would suggest a half day for the same ideally. The light & sound show is boring and can be avoided if short on time.

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The road till Mandi was okay-ish but the road after Mandi till Aut tunnel was simply too good!

BHPian H0RSEPOWER recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Purple haze in snowy Himachal

Our last trip to the Himalayas in the northern part of our state in October was just finished. And soon an itch to go to the Himalayas again started. This time I wanted to go a bit further, to the North western parts. Time was during the Christmas holidays. Initially thought of Spiti, but had only 8-9 days in my hand starting from Calcutta to Calcutta. So skipped Spiti & planned for some other places in Himachal itself.

Even 10 days prior to the travel, we did not make any booking! Then, I eventually booked for one night in Narkanda, next night in Shangarh & next in Manali. Rest were not booked. Well, booking on the go has its own share of excitement during any road trip! I was already super excited but just a week prior to the trip, a huge roadblock arose!

Due to the bad AQI, GRAP 4 was implemented in the NCR region, banning all BS4 diesel vehicles there. And I was planning the trip with my BS4 diesel Ecosport! Then I had to plan a route bypassing the NCR. For the planning of the routes around those areas, I took help from various TBhpians. Many thanks to Bonniver, Predatoronwheelz, Samba, Mile_Breaker & others who helped me a lot with the planning for the alternative routes without which the trip would have been really very tough to plan!

Posting a few teaser photos from the trip-

Narkanda

Shangarh

Manali

23rd night & 24th December

Finally, we started on 23rd December night. And our return was planned on either the 31st night or on 1st Jan. Our first stop was at a gas station somewhere in Bihar. For car lovers, it’s likeable to spend their time in the car as much as possible, well I implemented it very deeply indeed during this trip! I have bought an inflatable bed & had set it up in the back seats. I took a nap for a couple of hours there while my wife was sleeping in the front seat. (This bed really helped us a lot during the journey!).

Then we started again & in the early dawn. We were on the fringes of Varanasi & I again felt sleepy, so quickly parked the car in another gas station & took another round of nap, this time my wife went to the rear bed & I was sleeping in the front seat. Then after getting freshened up we had some sandwiches that we brought with us & continued our journey. We took the NH19 instead of PEW as suggested by both Bonniver & Predatoronwheelz. Our lunch break was just after crossing Kanpur. Then we continued till Agra. Road conditions of both the NH19 & ALE were superb. Only in Bihar, some stretches were in bad conditions. After reaching Agra in the evening we tried to visit the Taj Mahal, but it was closed for the day already. So chose a nearby hotel & finally checked in a room after a 1300 km long drive in the past 24 hours!

25th Dec

We woke up early in the morning. We had plans to reach Himachal on that day but did not have any booking & moreover, as we had to avoid entering NCR, we planned to go via Alwar in Rajasthan & then take the trans-Haryana expressway till Chandigarh. But before starting with the journey I really didn’t want to miss to visit the Taj Mahal! It was my first visit to the Taj Mahal & I was really spellbound with the beauty of Taj! I have seen so many photos of the mausoleum earlier, but visiting that marvellous piece of art in person was really superb!

Well after getting out of the Taj Mahal we started our journey towards Himachal via Rajasthan. During the drive, I enquired of the snow chain from a store called Halte in Chandigarh. They earlier told me that they could arrange it for my wheel size, but on D-day, they informed me they don’t have it in stock! Then as suggested by Mile_breaker, I went to the motor market in Chandigarh to search in the shops. Finally, in the evening I found a shop where they told me that they could make it but they would ship it to Narkanda the next day by bus. And I need to collect it in the middle of the night there!

Anyway with no other option left, I ordered it, & then started to plan for the place to stay in the night. I searched the HPTDC site & booked Ross Common in Kasauli. The road from Chandigarh to Kasauli after finishing our dinner at Chandigarh. The road was good apart from the last few kilometres to Kasauli. Well, the thing I least expected was a group of policemen checking for the offenders with a breath analyser on an empty road in Kasauli at 11:30 pm!

Anyway after passing that test (well, in my mind I was murmuring that hey I didn’t come all the way from Calcutta just to do some drink & drive here!), we eventually checked into the hotel. It was an old colonial bungalow converted to a hotel. Even after driving for more than 2000 kilometres in the last two days, billions of twinkling stars in the backdrop of dark sky compelled me to gaze at them standing outside shivering in cold! I was trying to find the Orion. It was awesome!

The bed in the car to take some rest while feeling too sleepy to drive!

The marvellous Taj Mahal!

Look at the work of art!

The HPTDC Kasauli

Inside HPTDC Kasauli

Continue reading about H0RSEPOWER's road trip for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

Try to reach Prayagraj by 5AM, this will help in getting an easy parking spot and a boat to the Sangam.

BHPian speedmiester recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

My friends and I completed our Kumbh travel this week. We decided to drive down as this was the best option given we had a limited time window.

Opted for the XUV700 for this over my iX1 in the interest of time. We didn’t book any hotels prior to the travel.

We left Bangalore at 9:45PM on 2nd Feb and plan was to drive to Prayagraj without stopping. Since all of us can drive, this turned out to be easier. We could see a lot of cars/vehicles driving to Prayagraj from multiple states on the way.

We booked a hotel in Rewa for a quick nap and to freshen up on the way, reached this hotel at 10:30PM on 3rd Feb. Settled down for a 2hr nap and we got up at 1AM, freshened up and left for Prayagraj at 2:30AM on 4th Feb.

Rewa to Prayagraj is about 127kms and we covered the distance in couple of hours. We reached the parking lot at Arail Ghat by 4:40AM. Luckily there was no fog and little or no traffic on the road helped.

We reached the boating point at Arail Ghat at 5AM and booked a boat just for the three of us. The authorities were restricting the boats from leaving the ghat before 5:30AM. We reached the Sangam platform at approximately 6AM, we completed our Snan in 30minutes and we were back to our car by 7AM.

Since we had a lot of time at hand, decided to visit the temples on the other side, which turned out to be a wrong decision. We decided not to take the car to the other side and rely on ericks and bikes.

The temples were closed for the day as Bhutan’s King was visiting along with UP CM. We decided to return back on foot, but some of the Pontoon bridges were closed and we had to walk a lot in scorching heat to reach our car. We left Prayagraj by 12:45PM and reached Rewa at 4PM. Booked a room in Rewa for a well-deserved sleep and rest.

We left Rewa at 7:30AM on 5th Feb and on the way visited Bhedaghat Waterfall, which was recommended by my colleague. We stopped over at a small resort at 9PM right on the Maharastra-Telangana Border.

Final day, we started the drive back to Bangalore at 4:30AM and reached Hyderabad by 8AM. Since we had a bit of time, visited the Statue of Equality which is close to Bangalore-Hyderabad highway. Started for Bangalore at 12Noon and reached back home at 9:55PM. The last 50Kms from Airport to my home took over 2.5hours.

Total distance travelled is 3550.6Kms in under 50hours of driving time.

Few pointers

• Try to reach Prayagraj by 5AM, this will help in getting an easy parking spot and a boat to the Sangam. We had a clear run to the parking lot with no restrictions.
• At Kumbh, situation can be very fluid, and restrictions can be placed at any time. We were lucky to get a boat to the Sangam, this got closed by 8AM for VIP movement.
• I would highly recommend to just restrict the visit for Snan at Sangam and return. The temples will still be there and can be visited anytime when the crowds are lower, but the auspicious Maha Kumbh Mela will not come again in our lifetime.
• Be ready to walk long distance if planning to explore
• The road conditions are very good for more than 98% of the distance. Any car can do the distance if it’s in good nick. I could see all types of cars right from humble Alto to the mighty Fortuners on the road to Prayagraj.
• Keep an eye out for wrong side driving post Nagpur, this is rampant in MP and UP. We anticipated this and were very careful around these places.
• There are enough restaurants with decent rest rooms on the way.

Har Har Mahadev

The machine for the long drive

At the 1000Kms mark

Driving through the heart of Bharat

Less than 100Kms to Prayagraj

Final Stats

Random Pictures from the Maha Kumbh Mela

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I keep calling this a solo road trip but my companion was my trusted "Dusty", my Mahindra Thar 4x4.

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

I love solo wanderings where I can practice my hobby of photography to my heart's content. Just me, my car and my camera, and a good location. I love walking around for hours, searching for landscapes and exploring different angles and lights for photography.

This is what I did recently at Gandikota Fort in Andhra Pradesh, some 6 hours drive away from Bangalore. Gandikota Fort and the nearby Belum Caves were on my to-visit list for a long time. Finally managed to visit both these places in a quick weekend trip.

Gandikota Fort is a popular tourist destination and is usually crowded with tourists. The fort has plenty of, but all very basic accommodation options ranging from basic lodges to tents, including one resort from the AP tourism department. Unfortunately, none of these options looked too appealing from the online reviews - most of these are not very clean. In fact, the entire area has no good hotel to stay at.

Finally, based on online reviews, booked one hotel called "Royal Palace Residency" in a small town some 15km away from the fort. This place is very basic too - just a roadside lodge with zero amenities or luxuries. However, the room was clean and comfortable, with spotless white sheets and towels, a good working AC (very important in that hot climate there) and again a basic but clean bathroom. That was enough for a solo one-night stay for me. The hotel manager and staff there are extremely friendly and welcoming, and their hospitality was top-class and worth mentioning here.

Overall a good place to stay for a short visit to Gandikota. I was glad I found this place instead of staying on the fort itself (those accommodations did not look good at all when I saw them after reaching there).

Of course, although I keep calling this a solo trip, my companion was my trusted "Dusty", my Thar 4x4. The small and basic hotel had no parking place as such, and Dusty was parked on the side of a small lane that the hotel is located on. Dusty makes no fuss about parking places and that small roadside spot was OK for a night's stay.

I drove to Belum Caves first, before reaching Gandikota later that day. Belum Caves are large underground natural caves, with a nicely developed underground walking path through the caves that spans about 3km. I enjoyed walking underground and seeing the caves. However, the lighting in the caves was too bright and colorful for my liking, and it made the caves look artificial - sort of like a movie set or an amusement park setting - instead of getting the feel of seeing real natural wonder (which the caves really are). I was a bit put off by these colorful lighting and did not care to do any photography as such in the caves. Just sharing a couple of photos below to show what I mean.

The nice underground walking path in Belum Caves:

However, such colorful lighting makes the caves look artificial:

Too colorful and bright for my liking:

Keeping aside the colorful lighting part, the caves are indeed nice and quite big. The natural underground formations of various sizes and shapes are nice to see. There are a lot of walking paths underground, some big and some small and narrow where one has to bend down and walk with very limited headroom.

From the caves, I drove to the hotel. After a quick check-in and lunch at a nearby restaurant in the town, I drove straight to Gandikota Fort for the evening photography session. My plan was to spend two sessions walking around the fort. The evening session that day (around 4pm to 7pm) chasing the sunset, and then the next morning session (6am to 8am) chasing the sunrise. The weather is very hot there, and the whole area is open to the sun with no shade whatsoever, and therefore, only the morning and evening times are the right times to venture out there.

The fort is quite big, and there are plenty of locations and viewpoints to walk around. There is a large parking lot outside the fort (where mostly the buses parked), but one can even drive through the fort and park at another parking lot inside the fort too (where most of the cars drove to and parked). I parked in the inside parking lot and wandered around the fort with my camera in my hand.

Dusty in Gandikota Fort:

It was quite hot there, and walking around to various locations within the large fort was a good exercise. After checking out an ancient temple and an ancient mosque, all within the fort premises, I walked to the main attraction, the canyon viewpoint. This fort is famous for the views of a canyon formed by Penna River cutting through the rocky landscapes.

External walls of the fort, overlooking the canyon:

The fort offers breathtaking views all around, especially during sunset and sunrise, and has a lot of historical monuments too. However, unfortunately, it is in a very bad mess due to heavy tourism and crowds. There is trash and garbage (including broken glasses and bottles) everywhere, and it was really sad to see this mess. Car parking was also unregulated and poorly managed. Many cars were parked in a haphazard manner causing problems to other cars moving around. This fort would be an amazing place if kept clean and if the tourist and vehicle movements were regulated and controlled.

There is a walking path to the end of the fort from where you see the canyon views. That viewpoint is essentially a small hill full of big rocks, and one can climb on the rocks to get various vantage points to see the canyon. Depending on one's fitness level and enthusiasm, one can climb to various heights to get a good view. With a camera in my hand, I walked up and down the big rocks multiple times to get good views and angles of the canyon. It became a good workout session for me that day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Views of the canyon:

Last rays of the evening on the tip of the rocks:

I wanted to see the views of the canyon at dusk, and there was still some time for that. So I climbed down from those rocks and started exploring other parts of the fort in the meantime. The sunset would be in the other direction (the above view is the eastern view), and I thought I should check out the sunset on the western side of the fort.

While walking around, a large ancient temple in the middle of the fort looked amazing with the sun setting behind it. There was a group of tourists on top of that temple, and that setting formed a nice subject for some silhouette photography experiments.

Silhouettes of the crowd watching the sunset behind the temple:

The sun setting behind the temple and a distant hill:

Taking a cue from those tourists, I found a way to climb to the top of that viewpoint and found magnificent views on the other side from there.

Sunset on the west side of the fort:

I came back to the canyon view point right at the time when the sun went down the horizon, to check out the twilight glow there, and I was not disappointed by those views.

The canyon at dusk:

The twilight time just after sunset was magical. The sky was lit up beautifully in blue and orange shades, and the ancient structures in the fort looked great against the backdrop of that sky.

The mosque in the colourful twilight:

A beautiful structure called "Charminar in Gandikota Fort", under that lovely evening sky:

A beautiful temple in the fort looked amazing under the evening sky:

After all the sunset and twilight hour wandering around, it was time to go back to the hotel. Dusty was parked in an open parking lot which was essentially just a vast open grassland. When I reached the parking spot at the end of the day, with that evening glow still lingering around in the sky, and headlights of other cars around giving a nice lighting effect, it gave me an idea to click the below photograph there.

Time to pack up and call it a day:

My hotel was about 15km away from the fort, and the night drive to the hotel after that sunset session was very peaceful and serene. The road from Gandikota to that hotel is very nice. It is a nice two-lane road with good lane markings and reflectors, across the vast open desert lands and hills, with zero development on either side. At night, it was pitch dark all around, zero light pollution, the sky was clear and lit up with a thousand stars, the reflectors in the lane markings looked fantastic under the headlights, and with zero traffic all around, it was a fantastic drive back! Most of the tourists on the fort stayed in one of those lodges or tents on the fort, and there was hardly anyone driving in and out of the fort at that time.

The next morning, I started from the hotel at about 5:45am, and again had that beautiful drive back to the fort, still under pitch dark conditions, and with those reflectors looking lovely under the headlights. Absolutely loved those peaceful and quiet night drives across the desert lands, to and from my hotel to the fort.

I parked the car and walked straight to the canyon view point for sunrise. It was still a good 20 minutes before sunrise when I was walking to that point. I love this morning walks to see the sunrise. The anticipation of seeing the sunrise is as exciting as the sunrise itself. I walked briskly, climbed the rocks, found a good spot with clear views, and waited in anticipation to see the sun rising from straight behind the canyons. And in the next few minutes, I saw an absolutely breathtaking sunrise there which was the highlight of my trip.

Sunrise above the canyon:

The magic of the morning light:

Another view of the beautifully backlit rocks:

After seeing the sunrise I walked back to my car and drove to another point nearby for another view.

While walking back, saw that ancient temple on the fort now bathing in the morning light:

Dusty on the fort:

Morning views of the canyon and the water from another point:

Finally, a parting shot of Dusty on that vast and open land surrounding the fort and the canyon:

The return drive to Bangalore was a brisk and uneventful drive. Overall it was a memorable short trip. The fort was beautiful, and the views from the fort, especially the sunrise views were absolutely breathtaking. I will surely remember that sunrise for a long long time.

Well, that is all from this simple and short weekend drive. Thank you very much for reading!

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This was my first time experiencing a 4x4 with all the modern tech and gizmos assisting me, and it was quite impressive.

BHPian amrutmhatre90 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I recently took a short trip to my farmhouse in Alibag and had the chance to take the Thar Roxx for a bit of off-road adventure. It wasn’t anything extreme, just a subtle test, but wow—this vehicle climbs like a mountain goat in 4L! This was my first time experiencing a 4x4 with all the modern tech and gizmos assisting me, and it was quite impressive.

At Kihim beach, I spotted a few other Thars having fun in the sand, but I decided to avoid the salty water and sand, took out my other 4x4 instead!

The journey back via the M2M ferry was smooth, and the Thar Roxx definitely turned heads wherever I went!

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After crossing the entrance, it’s about 20 miles to the top through dense forest and snow-capped mountain views until you reach the parking area.

BHPian mobike008 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Day Trip to Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington-January 19th, 2025

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday I noted that the weather was brilliant as it was cold (minus degree temperatures) and super sunny at Mt. Rainier. I immediately decided to do a “Solo Drive” to the crown jewel of Washington - Mt. Rainier National Park.

Mt. Rainier is about 110 miles (190kms) southeast and requires one to cross Downtown Seattle and head east towards this popular National Park.

I started from home at around 9:30 am and headed toward the park. It was quite foggy in the beginning and the weather improved as I neared the park. It takes about 2.5 hours to reach Paradise which is the visitor center of Mt. Rainier National Park.

While driving towards the park, Mt. Rainier is visible from almost every few miles and at different angles. Drive as usual is pleasant as, after some bit of freeway driving (~ 50 miles), the rest is via. winding 2-lane roads through the national park.

Reached the entrance of the park a little before 11:30 am and as usual, it felt like the entire Seattle was in the park and it took nearly 30 mins to cross the entrance where they collect the fees- $30/car. Post crossing the entrance, it’s about 20 miles to the top through dense forest and snow-capped mountain views until you reach the parking area.

Parking area was completely full and it took me 10-15 mins of circling around before I got an open slot to park the car. It was nearly 1:00 pm and I was hungry so I unpacked my picnic box and enjoyed a hearty home-made meal sitting in the car with great views.

Post that lunch, I started a small hike up the mountain and hiked for about 1.5 miles one-way and enjoyed the views. Came back down around 3:00 pm and drove to a couple of other spots spent exploring that area.

Due to heavy snow, most of the area was closed to vehicular traffic so limited spots were open. Most people come fully prepared with snowshoeing shoes, ski and/or, spiked hiking boots.

It was almost 4:00 pm and it was time to head back and enroute the views of Mt. Rainier were glowing with sun rays falling on it (it was absolutely amazing to see the mountain in that golden color).

Enjoyed the drive back home which I reached around 7:00 pm. It was a fun day spent in the mountains.

Foggy when I left home at 9:30 am.

Quick stop enroute to grab some coffee.

Views of Mt. Rainier all through the drive.

Beautiful Lakes too on the way...

Long queue at the entrance of the park. This is a regular phenomenon. It normally takes 10 mins to 30 mins to pass the entrance.

Winding (Ghat type of section) for the last 15-20 miles up to the mountains. Very enjoyable drive.

Mountain in your face as you come closer.

Finally at the parking spot.

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A sheer thrill of driving Brand New Thar Roxx -- and that's exactly what we set out to do! Because sometimes, the ride is the real adventure in itself.

BHPian Kashi053 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

While everyone else is picking Countries to go, we planned our vacation around "What we wanted to Drive". A sheer thrill of driving Brand New Thar Roxx -- and that's exactly what we set out to do!
Because sometimes, the ride is the real adventure in itself.

Here is the high level itinerary I planned accommodating some small hikes to spend some time basking the beauty of Himalayan Mountain Ranges of Uttarakhand.

Date : 13th to 22nd Dec, 2024
Vehicle : Roxx Ax7L D AT 4*4
Rental company: RBTS
People : Kashi & Preeti
Total Drive : ~1700KM from Delhi to Delhi
Total hikes : ~32KM

Jim Corbett National Park

From Delhi airport, collected the Roxx and headed towards Jim Corbett. The first view of Roxx made my day. It was brand new with temp number and seat covers are still on. Did the quick formality and left Airport after clicking some pics. Thanks to RBTS & Mr. Manpreet for providing us brand new Roxx.

First view of Roxx - Delhi Airport parking

I believe black is a great color for Roxx

Inspecting the vehicle. The seat covers are still on!

The boot space is very good and can easily accommodate the luggage for four.

Off we go

Spent some time to connect my mobile, setup the wireless android auto. The exit was quick and soon we were in highway towards Jim Corbett.

I & Preeti both were super excited to drive Roxx and highway drive till Corbett was joy. We explored ADAS, 360 cam, ventilated seats, pano roof, high speed stability and tons of other small features. First impression was positive from both of us.

One of the best steering I have experienced from Mahindra - Good feedback, precise & light.

Corbett was 2N 3D plan and checked in to 'Corbett Nature Retreat' by 4PM. The stay was very good in front of river bed and did evening walk there to enjoy the sunset.

Our stay. It was cosy & food was delicious.

Dinner at Diner's villa. Jim Corbett has many good cafe's.

Jim Corbett

Official booking website for stay & Safari : https://corbettgov.org/

Based on my research, I had shortlisted Dhikala, Jhirna & Bijrani zones. The Dhikala is a must zone and only available via canter safari since we didn't stay within official forest guesthouse. Dhikala zone two jeep safari per day is inclusive if you book the stay there. All other zone, jeep safari can be booked via above website.

Here is the zone details of Jim Corbett.

So, I had booked day 1 - Dhikala canter safari & day 2 - Jhirna jeep safari.

The canter safari starts from Ramnagar and takes about 30 minutes to reach Dhikala entry gate. One of the most beautiful forest and everyone is so excited in the hope to see tiger. As we proceed, we started encountering fox, cheetal, sambar deer etc. The weather was too cold and surely a must do experience.

We didn't had any zoom lens even though I had a Fuji mirrorless camera. Most of these pics are from either IPhone or Samsung.

Our canter

Dhikala zone entry

We reached the end of zone and had a quick break for tea/snacks. The water was clean and view was gorgeous.

Morning sun rays.

While returning, the guide was explaining the hunting area called "Sambar trail" which is basically an open grassland where Tiger sighting is very high. When we reached there, there was a Gypsy waiting and gypsy guide mentioned there was a Tiger which entered the grassland and waiting for it to come out. Upon hearing this news, our canter guide made a strategy and went ahead where the Tiger may exit from grassland.

Silently waiting and hoping for Tiger to exit where we parked.

Here we go, a massive male tiger exiting as predicted by our guide! I was not expecting such a close encounter of Tiger on first safari that too on Canter!

Shot on Iphone

Happy & tired face after the day 1 safari

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