The long journey to the sea and back
With the new car arriving last month , the thought of a longish drive out of the city had been playing in my mind for awhile.
So just last week , spread my idea about a road trip around and a few enthusiastic team mates (pulkit, jomy, divya) quickly signed up. Browsed around for options and decided on the JLR at Devbagh Island. Next was to do a road condition check at the team-bhp site for the best route to drive out.
So one sunny Friday afternoon I hit the gas pedal . On the way we picked up some eatables for the road and headed out of the city taking the Nice road and then joined NH4 at Tumkar ..mostly good toll roads ( though way too many toll booths !!) . The new car just swung into action and with great music and good company one couldn't have asked for more.
Driving at night after Chitradurga required some concentration with highways with no dividers and reflectors and people, vehicles coming in from the wrong side , also there were sudden drop in road levels and huge invisible speed breakers. Just at the outskirts of Hubli we stopped over at a Dhaba for Dinner ( 6hrs of continuous driving) and then the search began for a night stay. A bunch of hotels we asked around didn't have rooms but finally after couple of diversions and the jomy (navigator for the trip) with his handy android phone highlighting the area with max. hotels, we were able to find a descent place for a pit stop.
After a good nights rest , we left Hubli early morning to head towards Karwar . Taking the SH towards Ankola and then a diversion towards Karwar. The drive towards Karwar has some great scenic green ghat sections though it had a bit of truck traffic to beat!
Karwar is a sea town at the Arabian Sea coast and has a big Naval base. After a break for tea at a wayside stall on the way, we were able to reach the JLR office at Karwar around 11am ,parked the car there and then were taken by boat to the house boat parked a few kms away in the deep waters .
The house boat would be our resting place for the rest of the trip. We quickly freshened up and then were taken to the Devbagh island where the main JLR huts and tents was located. The place is nicely tucked away from the main karwar coastline and has nice green forest cover and a small village beside. We spoke around trying to find what water sport options was available but because to bad weather just kayaking was possible that day. Snorkeling that most of us were looking forward towards was not possible.
So after a heavy lunch we first were taken across a river/forest walk for over an hour by an every friendly forest guide. We waded through the river and walked across some mangrove and also armies of crabs to reach the jetty point.
I had a slight back strain due to my incorrect seating posture while driving the new car and so took a break from any water sports and headed to the beach while the rest of the gang went ahead trying their skill with the kayaks.
After a tea break we were taken back to the house boat and we headed far away from any habitation ( 25 odd km) into the sea for the night. Each of us took turns in being the captain of the boat..
I took out my ipod and the ihome speakers and we had some good music on the boat all evening. The houseboat with its own kitchen then dished out some hot pakodas,tea and juice and a full course meal later .The rest of the evening was spent chatting with divya and pulkit trying to bring up ghost stories as well.
Wokeup to a nice quite early morning tucked away in the sea and watching the sunrise amidst the cloudy sky. The house boat was then picked away from its anchor and started moving towards Devbagh.. After a heavy breakfast we took a motor boat for some dolphin sighting. The sea was quite rough and we did find a few dolphins giving us a sneak view.
We then hit the shore after noon on Sunday and picked up my car from the office and started our long drive (650kms) back to Bangalore. I was driving at an average speed of around 90-100kph which went up to 140kmh only once though Pulkit was trying to push me to test the cars limits :). We were back in the city by 11pm (a short break for brunch at Haveri) and our last meal at MacDonald ..
Most of the journey we had two sleepy heads at the rear seats even with loud music playing , but thanks to the ever alert Navigator Jomy in front also equipped with an android GPS enabled phone, we were able to hit the right road connections.
Distance Covered: 1250 kms approx. in my new black stallion ..VW POLO 1.6 driven solely by yours truly..
More pics from the trip here
So just last week , spread my idea about a road trip around and a few enthusiastic team mates (pulkit, jomy, divya) quickly signed up. Browsed around for options and decided on the JLR at Devbagh Island. Next was to do a road condition check at the team-bhp site for the best route to drive out.
So one sunny Friday afternoon I hit the gas pedal . On the way we picked up some eatables for the road and headed out of the city taking the Nice road and then joined NH4 at Tumkar ..mostly good toll roads ( though way too many toll booths !!) . The new car just swung into action and with great music and good company one couldn't have asked for more.
Driving at night after Chitradurga required some concentration with highways with no dividers and reflectors and people, vehicles coming in from the wrong side , also there were sudden drop in road levels and huge invisible speed breakers. Just at the outskirts of Hubli we stopped over at a Dhaba for Dinner ( 6hrs of continuous driving) and then the search began for a night stay. A bunch of hotels we asked around didn't have rooms but finally after couple of diversions and the jomy (navigator for the trip) with his handy android phone highlighting the area with max. hotels, we were able to find a descent place for a pit stop.
After a good nights rest , we left Hubli early morning to head towards Karwar . Taking the SH towards Ankola and then a diversion towards Karwar. The drive towards Karwar has some great scenic green ghat sections though it had a bit of truck traffic to beat!
Karwar is a sea town at the Arabian Sea coast and has a big Naval base. After a break for tea at a wayside stall on the way, we were able to reach the JLR office at Karwar around 11am ,parked the car there and then were taken by boat to the house boat parked a few kms away in the deep waters .
So after a heavy lunch we first were taken across a river/forest walk for over an hour by an every friendly forest guide. We waded through the river and walked across some mangrove and also armies of crabs to reach the jetty point.
I had a slight back strain due to my incorrect seating posture while driving the new car and so took a break from any water sports and headed to the beach while the rest of the gang went ahead trying their skill with the kayaks.
After a tea break we were taken back to the house boat and we headed far away from any habitation ( 25 odd km) into the sea for the night. Each of us took turns in being the captain of the boat..
I took out my ipod and the ihome speakers and we had some good music on the boat all evening. The houseboat with its own kitchen then dished out some hot pakodas,tea and juice and a full course meal later .The rest of the evening was spent chatting with divya and pulkit trying to bring up ghost stories as well.
Wokeup to a nice quite early morning tucked away in the sea and watching the sunrise amidst the cloudy sky. The house boat was then picked away from its anchor and started moving towards Devbagh.. After a heavy breakfast we took a motor boat for some dolphin sighting. The sea was quite rough and we did find a few dolphins giving us a sneak view.
We then hit the shore after noon on Sunday and picked up my car from the office and started our long drive (650kms) back to Bangalore. I was driving at an average speed of around 90-100kph which went up to 140kmh only once though Pulkit was trying to push me to test the cars limits :). We were back in the city by 11pm (a short break for brunch at Haveri) and our last meal at MacDonald ..
Most of the journey we had two sleepy heads at the rear seats even with loud music playing , but thanks to the ever alert Navigator Jomy in front also equipped with an android GPS enabled phone, we were able to hit the right road connections.
Distance Covered: 1250 kms approx. in my new black stallion ..VW POLO 1.6 driven solely by yours truly..
More pics from the trip here
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