Udaipur - Mount Abu Road Trip

December 2016
Best Time to Visit: Winter

Euphoria creeps in on the arrival of September. We always wanted to plan a road trip to Rajasthan by our car and eventually, we shortlisted the places-to-see and asked a couple of folks including Swapnil for a company. Of lately, he had been on frequent road trips and I thought he would be a good companion.One fine day, I asked him if he would be interested in joining us for the trip and he reverted affirmatively within a couple of minutes :)

I explained him the silhouette of our road trip and plan seemed to materialize from that very moment. We started with the hotel bookings and as early birds, we grabbed some good deals.We were very delighted for the value for money stuff :). We also went on discussing about the road conditions, the routes to be taken, the places to visit etc. The one thing that was bothering us was, about the halt on the first day; whether we should stop at Ankleshwar or Baroda en-route Udaipur. Sagar and myself were for Baroda while Swapnil and Suvarna were more inclined towards Ankleshwar as it was almost halfway to Udaipur. Finally, after some brainstorming, we both families decided to zero-in on Baroda as we wanted to drive as much as we could on that day.

Before we move ahead, let me first introduce my companions :)

Group pic

From left:

Family 1: Swapnil and Suvarna

Family 2: Myself, Sagar and my kid Rishaan (2.9 yrs)

We had taken 2 cars. Our's was a Honda City and Swapnil and Suvarna were in their Maruti Swift.

Road trip route:

Some statistics about our journey.

Total expenses: Rs.40,000

Total distance covered by our car: ~2200 KM

Petrol expenses: Rs.11000

Toll  charges: Rs.1000
Hotel /Home-stay bookings: Rs.17,500

Trip route

Itinerary:

23/12: Reach Baroda.

24/12: Reach Udaipur/site seeing.

25/12: Udaipur site seeing.

26/12: Udaipur site seeing.

27/12: Reach Mount Abu/site seeing.

28/12: Mount Abu site seeing.

29/12: Reach Baroda/site seeing.

30/12: Reach Silvassa.

31/1: Reach Pune.

23/12: Reaching Baroda
Distance covered: 585 KM  
Drive: 14 hours 

Pune - Baroda/Halol

As we all know, we hardly get a peaceful sleep when the next day is going to be filled with excitement so we both families decided to leave Pune by 5 AM. The common point where we decided to meet and start together was the Orchid Hotel,Balewadi road.By 7AM, we reached Thane. It took a lot of time from Thane to Meera Bhayandar, as only one way traffic was allowed. We were stuck for almost half an hour. The road was full of trucks and big lorries.The toll plazas were also lined up with many vehicles.  As soon as we enter Gujrat, the roads become buttery smooth. Hats off to Gujrat roads and our Prime Minister Modiji.

6 lane highway

Charoti Toll Plaza

In the afternoon, we had our lunch at the 'Apple Inn' restaurant. Most of the hotels are pure-veg and so was this. Since we all were non-vegetarians, we were reluctant  about this hotel. But still went ahead with this restaurant as we had to reach destination before sunset.We reached Baroda around 6:30 PM and took the Vadodara-Halol exit from the highway.It was dark outside but we enjoyed the drive as the road was simply astounding with red markers and without a single bump and potholes. After 25 KM journey on this awesome road with deserted traffic, we finally reached first destination, Hotel Sarvottam. This hotel was a find on the highway. We were treated to a luxury experience in just a couple of grands. We relaxed and were very happy with our choice.

24/12: Reaching Udaipur/site seeing.

Distance covered: 302 KM  
Drive: 6 hours 

We started pleasant driving for Udaipur at 8 in the AM by the clock.. It was a smooth road surrounded with many petrol pumps. As soon as we reached Rajasthan Post, the roads turned rough and had many Bars surrounded :) whose billboards read "Angreezi sharaab ki dukaan" :P. But our  journey along-with a little help of the GPS was fantastic and relaxing till we reached our next haven, the 'Boheda Palace'.

 

We reached Boheda palace,Udaipur at 1:30 PM and had delicious meal. We decided to relax and tour the City Palace in the evening. Instead of driving our cars, we took an auto at 4:30 PM as the roads were very narrow. Auto wallahs usually charge Rs.50 for any drop within 2-3 KM's.Tickets for City Palace were heavy on pockets i.e. Rs.250/- and same is the price for each camera you carry. We spent 1.5 hrs in the crowded city palace :| and then did some shopping at the Hathipole market. Beware of the swindlers while you shop.I felt deceited especially at the Maharaja Saree whole sale shop :(. Evening we had dining at the Boheda palace in their open space on the third floor. Beautifully lit City Palace added to the charm and beauty.

 

25/12: Udaipur site seeing.

After having a sapid breakfast, we left for Kumbhalgarh Fort by our car. We took the route to Kumbhalgarh and as we were nearing, we were excited to see what the 'Great Wall of India' had in store for us. It was a 90 kms odyssey from our hotel and the roads were narrow with uneven surfaces.We reached Khumbhalgarh at 11 AM and trekked the majestic fort. The fort is a World Heritage site built by Rana Kumbha and is also famous as Maharana Pratap's birth place.The fort of Kumbhalgarh has perimeter walls that extend 36 KM, making it the second longest wall in the world. We were fascinated with these incredible structures that were built in the 15th century. Also, this is the same fort where the movie 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo' was pictured. We had lunch at the fort which was okay and left for the hotel in the afternoon. This is one of the grandest of forts of our Incredible India and a must visit site :)

Kumbhalgarh Wall

Temples

Rear view of Kumbhalgarh

We all decided to relax at the hotel in the evening but Swapnil and Suvarna had a different plan at the back of their minds. They wanted to visit the Fateh Sagar lake and we joined in without any hesitation. Swapnil parked the car and we visited the garden near by. Surprise awaits! Swapnil and Suvarna had got a yummilicious cake :) We both were elated.This was the best surprise on our anniversary. Thank you guys for making our day special. We had a memorable cake cutting followed by a luscious dinner lakeside.

Anniversary Celebrations

26/12: Udaipur site seeing.

We planned for local site seeing in the morning and a relaxing sundown at the Fateh Niwas. We checked out from Boheda Palace at 9 AM and after a auto-rickshaw ride, we decided to take the Ropeway to the Karni Mata Temple. After reaching the top, you can see the entire view of the city of lakes which would make you fall in love with this city all over again. We had an inviting photo session followed by darshan. At 12 PM, we had wonderful boat ride experience amidst the stunning Pichola lake, Jag mandir, Lake Palace, Udaivilas and not to forget the Hotel Taj Lake Palace.

Jag Mandir

Pichola Lake View From Karni Mata Temple

City View, Udaipur

City Lake Palace, Pichola Lake

Taj Lake Palace, Pichola lake

 

After the boat ride, we went shopping around the City Palace and had the famous Dal Bati thali at Santosh restaurant.We checked in at Fateh Niwas at 4 PM and it was a steal! This boutique hotel is one of the Fateh Collection of heritage hotels and was renovated in Feb 2016. We truly enjoyed our stay here.

27/12: Reaching Mount Abu/site seeing. 
Distance covered: 302 KM  
Drive: 3 hours 

We had lavish breakfast at the Fateh Niwas and started our journey towards Mount Abu. The Highway connecting Udaipur and Mount Abu is pretty good.We started at 10 AM and reached Mount Abu at around 12:30 PM.

Tunnel on the way to Mount Abu

Aravalli range, Mount 

We checked in Hotel Silver Oak and had lunch in the hotel garden. The hotel was decent and well-equipped with heaters but the rooms were pretty compact. 

At evening, we visited the Nakki lake. We expected it to be a huge lake but much to our disappointment, it wasn't. We had also planned a visit to the sunset point, however, due to time crunch and heavy traffic we couldn't make it. As the weather was chilling we finally destined to our hotel.

The best part of hotel Silver Oak are the evening shows which are managed by the hotel management  near the garden area. They promote visually challenged people for conducting such shows. We got to see some exceptional talent out there. Our evening became more memorable when Swapnil and Sagar tried their hands-on singing and harmonica.

28/12: Mount Abu site seeing.

We started for local site seeing at 9 AM after having the breakfast. The targeted points included Gurushikhar, Anchalgarh temple, Brahmakumari and Dilwara Jain temple. Gurushikar was 19 km drive from our hotel and was the highest point of the Aravalli Range.It has a cave at the zenith and has a temple dedicated to Lord Dattatreya.We then visited the Brahmakumari and spent around an hour there.There is not much to see at the Anchalgarh temple and also it is not well-kept. After our  Anchalgarh temple visit, we were not very keen on visiting the Dilwara but as it was on our way,we went ahead with the plan.These 11th and 13th century temples are one of the most beautiful Jain pilgrimage sites in the world.The ornamental detailing spread over the minutely carved ceilings, doorways, pillars and panels is simply marvelous. We did not regret our decision of visiting the Dilwara and instead thought that it was one of the most ultimate points in Mount Abu and one should pay a visit at least once!

At eventide, we relaxed at the hotel where-as Swapnil and Suvarna went for boating in the Nakki lake.

29/12: Reaching Baroda/site seeing.
Distance covered: 345 KM  
Drive: 6 hours

As we had only one day stay at Baroda, we wanted to visit the Lakshmi Vilas Palace and EME temple.As the palace closes at 6 PM, by any means we wanted to reach Baroda by 4 PM. We left from our hotel at 9 AM and reached Baroda before 4 PM as we had planned.The Vadodara-Ahmedabad highway was incredible.. again Gujrat roads.. Hats off!!. Its a scaled straight expressway having fewer turns. We immensely enjoyed the drive for 100 KM's and had lunch by the highway. As we reached Baroda city, wide roads gestured us. We checked in the hotel Gen X which was a find and value for money. We all loved our stay here. At evening, we visited the Lakshmi Vilas Palace which was ticketed at Rs 225/- inclusive of headphones.The Palace was quite picturesque and surrounded by a golf course. Truly fabulous and grand! Another fascinating site to mention was that of the dancing peacocks. Overall, this palatial entity is worth visiting again and again.Magnificent architecture and the surroundings made the visit truly amazing!

We concluded this day by having supper at our hotel were we had waited :)

 



30/12: Reaching Silvassa.
Distance covered: 265 KM  
Drive: 5 hours 

We reached Silvassa at 4 PM, making our way through the traffic over river Narmada. This location is more of an industrial area than a Portuguese territory. Every hotel here is a bar cum restaurant .  The Le Royale hotel was modest. In the evening, we visited the 'Vanganga garden' which was adjacent to our hotel and had an electrifying fountain show. This made our day and the other surprise was a great dinning experience at the hotel. The food was mouth-watering :)

31/1: Reaching Pune.
Distance covered: 300 KM  
Drive: 6 hours 

We started our return journey after having scrumptious breakfast at the hotel at 9 AM. We visited the Swami Narayan temple which was about an half hour drive from the hotel. Temple is well maintained and very peaceful. 

Swaminarayan Temple, Silvassa

At 10 AM, we started towards Manor and as usual, had a rush hour at Mira Bhayandar. We were stuck in the traffic for almost half an hour and then it further took us another two hours getting on the expressway which was quite cumbersome. By then we were quite esurient and were looking for a restaurant nearby. Finally, we had our lunch on the Mumbai Pune Expressway which was packed by the visitors to Lonavala and Khandala who were there to celebrate New Year's Eve. Finally, we reached home at 5:30 PM. 

Ultimately, our stupendous nine days road trip was over and we thoroughly enjoyed it to the core. We had so many special and unforgettable memories throughout our sojourn. We miss our travel partners and the nostalgia creeps in. Thanks a bunch guys for all those cherishable moments!

Heart filled with gratitude to Sunny Shah, who has reviewed my blog. Thanks a ton!! It was due since long... :)

For more photo's, you can follow @sagarbidkar/@saylibidkar on instagram.

Shivneri - Malshej Ghat - Lenyadri - Ozar

Shivneri - Malshej Ghat - Ozar

July 2016
Best Time to Visit: Monsoon

May 2016, my family members decided to book MTDC Malshej Resort for a single night stay. Our motive was to relax for a day. Everything was unplanned except staying at the resort. Weekends are fully packed at this resort during monsoon season, hence we decided to book it on a Friday. Due to heavy rains, frequent landslides occurred a week before and this was enough to sow a seed of doubt in our mind. However, as we had already made reservations, we were in “Let's Go” situation. The route from Mumbai to Malshej Ghat was closed due to heavy landslide and the only operational route was Pune to Malshej Ghat. It was a blessing in disguise as it was indeed a scenic journey with less crowd on road due to Ashadi Ekadashi (Holy day with special significance for the Hindu's)

Our mode of transport was our very own Honda City :)

Road trip route:

I would like to give some statistics about our journey.

Total distance covered by our car: ~223 KM

Petrol expenses: Rs.1000

Toll  charges: Rs.62
Hotel /Home-stay bookings: Rs.4225

Itinerary:

15/07:Shivneri and Malshej Ghat
16/07: Lenyadri and Ozar

Entire route map

 

15/07: Shivneri and Malshej Ghat 

  

Shivneri:

We started at 8:40 AM and reached Shivneri fort by 11:30 AM. It took us approximately an hour to reach the top. Shivneri Fort is the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,the founder of Maratha Empire.This was the cleanest and easiest fort to climb as it is very well maintained by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). Weather was pleasant our happiness to visit such a historic place was unimaginable.

Few snaps we had on Shivneri fort:

Malshej Ghat 

By 2:30 PM we began our journey towards Malshej Ghat, MTDC Resort. It was one of the most scenic destination we have visited in Maharashtra. It was an 8 KM picturesque drive from Shivneri Fort. God willing the weather turned whiz-bang only after we reached the MTDC resort. This has definitely been a heavenly and satisfying experience. The rooms at the MTDC were ok. We booked A-deluxe room for 4.

The view from this resort is stunning and one wonders at the beauty and uncertainty of changing weather conditions. Weather changes every 5 minutes with some drizzles and fog. A feeling of peace with nature - indeed a mesmerizing experience.

Main Malshej ghat view point.

  Chess Board at the MTDC Resort

 

View from the MTDC Resort

 My Kiddo in the last photo. He is also fond of traveling.

15/07: Lenyadri and Ozar

Early morning we left for Lenyadri. Lenyadri is one of famous Ashtavinayak shrines and also known for series of about 30 rock-cut caves. Located in Junnar, about 110 kms from Pune the caves are located in a middle of a cliff. You will see lot of monkeys and some of them even causing nuisance sometimes.We started climbing at 11:30 am and reached base again by 1 PM. It was drizzling and weather was pleasant for climbing. We had simple meal and left for another Ashtavinayak temple, Ozar. It was 2 PM by the time we reached the Ozar temple. There is small beautiful lake nearby. Temple was not much crowded and we could easily take the darshan. The journey from Lenyadri to Ozar is amidst the onion farms and with very few vehicle plying on the road.

To Summarize, we had indeed wonderful experience at all the locations. Malshej ghat was too scenic and would like to visit again.These are best spots to visit if you have short vacation in hand.

Will like to thank Neelam Sharma for reviewing my blog content :) 

For more photo's, you can follow @sagarbidkar/@saylibidkar on instagram.

Chikmangaluru, Coorg, Chitradurga and Hampi Road Trip

Chikmangaluru, Coorg, Chitradurga and Hampi

December 2015
Best Time to Visit: Winter

One fine day, three friends decided to go on a road trip along with their families. After much discussion, we zeroed in on the route - Chikmagalur, Coorg, Chitradurga and Hampi. We started planning and hotel booking around September so as to get good deals on hotels and resorts. We had also done some prior investigation for road condition and had pretty much finalized our route. As our trip date was approaching all of us were excited and were looking forward to our road trip.

Before we move ahead let me first introduce our team :)

From left:

Family 1: Seema and Gaurav

Family 2: Myself, my hubby Sagar and my kid Rishaan (1.9 yr)

Family 3: Nikhil, Preeti and their son Harsh (9 yrs)

We used a car and SUV. Our's was Honda City and the Nikhil's and Seema's family were in Tata Safari Storme.

Road trip route:

Some statistics about our journey.

Total distance covered by our car: ~2200 KM

Petrol expenses: Rs.9000

Toll  charges: Rs.1500
Hotel /Home-stay bookings: Rs.30000 

Itinerary:

24/12: Reach Hubli.

25/12: Reach Chikmagaluru.

26/12: Chikmagaluru site seeing.

27/12: Reach Coorg.

28/12: Coorg site seeing

29/12: Reach Chitradurga.

30/12: Chitradurga Fort visit and reach Hampi.

31/12: Hampi site seeing.

1/1: Reach Kolhapur.

2/1: Reach Pune.


24/12: Reaching Hubli

Distance covered: 432 KM  
Drive: 8 hours

We started from Pune early in the morning around 6 AM to beat the traffic. We met our companions at Chandani Chowk, and from there connected to NH4. We took a pit-stop near Khed Shivapur at BP petrol pump and got our vehicles filled. Journey from there onward was smooth, although there were quite a few diversions on NH4 until Wai phata. Overbridge construction and road maintenance was going on at lot of places on this road. The next stop was for a yummy breakfast at famous Virangula restaurant, near Satara around 9:00 AM. Virangula is famous for its delicious Thalipeeth  and Kothimbir wadi. After a sumptuous breakfast, we resumed our journey. The road and traffic condition after Satara was much better and the road was also very scenic. Next, we drove for 3 hours before we took a lunch break at the Naveen restaurant, Hattaragi, Belgaum. It's just after the toll plaza in Hattaragi village. Food was good, but the best part was that it was lighter on our pockets :) From here we drove non-stop until our destination, Akshay Park (OYO rooms), Hubli. We reached here at 4.00 PM. Hotel was good and we spent evening in the nearby mall. It was surprising to see a mall that can give any mall in the city a run for its money. All the top brands were being sold there. To kill time, some of them in the group watched Bajirao Mastani that night while the others caught up on something very important - a good night's sleep :)

Pune - Hubli map

25/12: Reaching Chikmagaluru

Distance covered: 311 KM  
Drive: 6 hours 

Hubli - Chikmagaluru map

We started around 6:45 AM for Chikmagaluru.We stopped at a Dhaba to refill fuel. Preeti and Seema had arranged a surprise celebration for us. It was our 5th marriage anniversary. Our friends managed to procure a yummy plum cake from God knows where. It made our day very special. We will remember this small yet sweet celebration forever. Thanks to our dear friends :)  Tea at this dhaba was also fantastic. We managed to arrange for a mini breakfast while we were there. The menu was what was leftover in our travel bags. One of the members in the group managed to butter all our breads and that made for a nice and healthy breakfast. Once our tummies were full, we hit the road. NH4 and the road until Shimoga was good. However, the road after Shimoga wasn't so good. There were a few rough patches, but the view was scenic driving through the sunflower farms. The overall journey was good though.We reached Soudhamini Coffee Estate at 3 PM. Well, this estate was a find! This 100 acre estate is very well maintained. We had 2 Koff Villa's and 1 Bunglow room. Everything was fantastic. The Chef was just awesome. He use to cook delicious exotic delicacies Malnad style. The stay was quite homely. In the evening we had bonfire, impressive story telling and soothing harmonica in the moonlight. What more, everybody enjoyed my dance. I really enjoyed the entertainment evening! What fun, totally unplanned! :)

Sunflower Farms

Koff Villa, Soudhamini Estate

Bunglow, Soudhamini Estate

26/12: Chikmagaluru site seeing

Distance covered: 80 KM  
Drive: 2 hours 

Early morning we had a refreshing walk in the coffee plantation.After having breakfast we all left to Kaimara. We were planning to hire a jeep from Kaimara to the Mullayanagiri peak. It is the highest peak in Karnataka and is a must-watch destination. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a jeep and saw a few cars following the same way. We all had no option, but to go by Nikhil's Safari Storme. Road to Mullayangiri was full of traffic and was very narrow and risky as you go to the top. Road was so narrow that it could only accommodate one vehicle at a time. It was pesky managing two on such a narrow lane. Nikhil worked his driving charm and we reached the top safely. Finally, we reached the top of the peak and had a photo session. It was very windy and cold. We were at the top for about an hour and then we started our journey back. We reached the hotel by 2 PM and had our lunch. Earlier we had plans to visit the Belur temple post lunch, but everyone wanted to relax so we skipped that plan. At 5 PM, we had a tour of the coffee estate in the vehicle and that was fun. We plucked oranges, lemons, coffee beans, lime right off the trees:) I don't remember the last, when I plucked anything off a tree. Thanks to this tour, I relived those moments. In the evening, we had some barbeque chicken followed by some dancing and story telling. We truly enjoyed our memorable stay at the Soudhamini Coffee estate.

Mullayanagiri Peak

View from Top

27/12: Reaching Coorg

Distance covered: 200 KM  
Drive: 5 hours 

Temple calling again! On the way to Coorg, we finally visited the Belur's Chennakeshava temple.This was the one we were going to visit the day before.This Dravida style temple is very old and is very well maintained by ASI and has intricate carvings. It was very unlike the usual South Indian temples, and if you ever get a chance, do not miss visiting this temple. No, not for religious reasons, but purely for its architecture. It's a visual treat!

Chennakeshava temple

Temple Architecture

We reached Coorg at 2:30 PM and had lunch at Hotel Prestige,Madikeri. Lunch was average. After lunch, we started searching our home-stay location 'Kedakal', but couldn't find it easily. We had to call our home stay to locate it. Finally we reached our destination, which was into the woods surrounded by 50 acres of coffee plantations. Overall, the location was very exotic. We never had such a stay before. The cottage was lovely with exclusive wall pieces, a good kitchen, nice terrace area with a Christmas tree and a beautiful view. In the evening, we had filter coffee and in the night nice dinner served by the hosts. We also had star gazing session with nice story telling again by Seema and Harsh. The highlight of that evening was Sagar playing his mouth organ (Harmonica), and all of us getting lost in our childhood years... The full moon and the stars only added to the charm of the night!

Chikmagaluru - Coorg map

 

Kedakal Homestay, Coorg

28/12: Coorg Site seeing

Distance covered: 60 KM  
Drive: 4 hours


After having a good breakfast, we decided to do some local site seeing and try some local Coorg cuisine. Seema and Gaurav chose to stay back and relax. We visited Abbey waterfall which was very scenic. We clicked few pictures and then decided to visit the Madikeri town. In Madikeri, first we had lunch at the 'Coorg cuisine' and then did some shopping. Lunch was too yummy and mouth watering. Best part was the authentic rice noodles and the rice balls. Most of us tried these dishes for the first time and all of us enjoyed it. Truly mouth watering!

In the evening, we all tried preparing some dishes in the kitchen and enjoyed cooking after almost a week :) The only downside to this exotic resort is that there is no food available. The nearest restaurant is a good 8-9 kms away on a windy road. Food could be delivered, but at a steep price. Which is why, we ended up in a community cooking project. And the man who initiated this idea decided that he is best monitoring everybody ;) Okay to his credit, he did the dishes. And yes, they were sparkly clean :)

Abbey Waterfall

Coorg Market Road

29/12: Reaching Chitradurga

Distance covered: 310 KM 
Drive: 5 hours 

We started from Coorg around 9:30 AM and reached Chitradurga around 4 PM. Drive was slightly tiring here. It was pleasant to hit back NH4. Hills here were covered by windmills.

Coorg - Chitradurga map

30/12: Chitradurga site seeing and reaching Hampi

Distance covered: 130 KM
Drive: 2 hours 45 min

After having a cup of tea in the morning, we started for the fort visit. We hired a guide for Rs.300. One has to bargain with guides to get good deal. The fort has a very good history and is very well maintained by the ASI. Chitradurga fort is majestic and is made up of granite. It has excellent architecture and is rock solid. There are some parts where it is difficult to climb or trek. Overall, it was an excellent fort tour. By 10:30 AM, we were back at the hotel. We all packed up by 11:30 AM and parted our ways as decided. My family left for Hampi while rest of the people traveled back to Pune. After enjoying each others company for 6 days, we were so used to each other. We all desperately missed each others company. When I met the group, I was told that they missed my kiddo badly. Apparently, some of them even started talking like him.

Chitradurga Fort

Temple, Chitradurga Fort

View From Top

Road from Chitradurga to Hospet is overall good. Not very scenic, but still good. There were not many hotels/dhaba on this road and the road was full of trucks and lorries.

We stayed at Hotel Malligi, Hospet. Will recommend this hotel to everyone. It was our best choice. Good food, good service, good ambience and location too.

On way to Hospet

Chitradurga - Hospet map

31/12: Hampi site seeing

Distance covered: 40 KM  
Drive: 7 hours


We started at 8.00 AM from Hospet to Hampi. It's about 10 KM drive to the cultural heritage site.We hired a guide for Rs.1300 for entire Hampi site seeing which took us around 4-5 hours. Hampi was historically rich, and the ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage that is very well maintained by ASI. It was one of the richest and largest cities in the world.  Main temples we visited included Mustard Ganesha, Virupaksha Temple, Peanut Ganesha, Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Vithhala Temple, Badavlinga etc.

It was really difficult to digest as to how such rich civilization could be destroyed and turned into ruins. At one time Hampi was a beautiful city compared with Bejing and was thrice the size of Paris.

Lakshmi Narasimha

Virupaksha Temple

Mustard Ganesha

Lotus mahal

We were done with our site-seeing at 3.00 PM and reached our hotel for lunch. We also had a relaxing New Year dinner there :)


1/1: Reaching Kolhapur

Distance covered: 360 KM
Drive: 6 hours

We embarked our journey to Kolhapur via NH63 at 10:30 AM. Most of this route is deserted. You will hardly see any petrol pumps and hotels. We had lunch in Roti Ghar on the NH4 highway just after Hubli near Dharwad which was average. We reached Hotel Opal, Kolhapur at 5 PM and visited the Mahalaxmi temple.

The evening dinner was at Opal again. Dinner was good :).

Hospet - Kolhapur map

2/1: Reaching Pune

Distance covered: 233 KM
Drive: 4 hours

Kolhapur - Pune map

After having breakfast at the Opal hotel around 11 AM, we decided to leave for Pune. The traffic on NH4 highway was bearable as it was a Saturday. We had lunch at Park Inn near the Mahabaleshwar turn. We reached Pune at 3:30 PM.Our 10 day long journey had come to an end. 

When we started out on the planning stage, we realized we were very different people. We were wondering how we would all gel in a trip. Surprisingly, we all made a wonderful team. Everybody got ready on time, and there was nobody throwing a fit for anything. I think it turned out more than what any of us could ask for! So folks, missing all of you who made this trip what it was! What a memorable trip! :) I never felt that a road trip can be so mesmerizing. At the end of the day, it's who you go with that can make or break a trip. I was lucky we had a good bunch! Wonderful people and a wonderful journey. Here's to many more trips to come!


Special thanks to Seema, for reviewing my blog and making it more interesting :)