Welcome to Ultimate Road Trips !! and This is episode 2 of our expedition to Goa. For those of you who’ve been following our journey’s you would know by now that we are doing something we do not normally do. And for those of you who have just started watching, there is no need to worry.. all you’ve got to do is hit the subscribe button below to keep up with all the fun. Today we’re going to take a look at what we did one day before we were going to head back home. With madness truly at its peak, we are headed to Palolem in south Goa from where we were at in Siolim. Palolem is a little under a 100Km from siolim, and has a reputation of being one of the best beaches in the world. Any ways before we can actually begin, here is a quick question .. would you prefer riding around Goa on a Bike or Would you rather Drive around in the comfort of your car.. leave us your answers down below in the comments section ..
Day: January 23, 2021
Goa is a state of mind. There are loads of videos on YouTube about GOA, including this one, but not a single one will ever compensate for actually being in GOA. I’ve lost count of the times I have been Here. But I have vivid memories of every single trip that I’ve made to this place. Welcome To Episode 1 of our Expedition To Goa, this video is all about our drive back home. I figured that it’d be nice to start right at the end simply because every thing after this will only get crazier.
Road Trip To Dhanachuli from Munsiyari in a Suzuki S-Cross. From One Side of Uttarakhand (Garhwal ) to the other (Kumaon)
Good Morning Day 6. we’ve woken up really early today and the view of the rising sun with a backdrop of the snow capped Himalayas is nothing short of Spectacular. it is 6:30 Am and the sun ray’s reflecting off the Panchachuli peak’s at a distance are magical. 4 hours later, the feeling of having to leave munsiyari is slowly sinking in, we are done packing up and it is time to say by to Biju’s Inn. What a place this had been. Obviously we did not feel like leaving here any time soon, but we had to move on. it was 10:40 now and we were done loading up our stuff, Once again it was time to hit the road. we did not waste too much time and were soon on our way. we took a pitstop to soak in as much of the himalaya’s that we could. we were back on the narrow winding munsiyari Road, this time however the situation was very different. the sun was out and the weather was clear. this road was epic. by 1:30 pm we were at the end of the munsiyari road and were transported back into reality. there was major road work up ahead and the road was shut. after 3 hours of a blissful drive this was a buzzkill. with no other options at hand we got into the only shop that there probably was at Kwiti. We decided to explore the place, and set off on a trek. welcome to a place called DOr, we got off the main road and and followed an old path that led us to an ancient temple on the banks of a river (dont know which one) by the time we were done with this escapade and got back to the car, the road had thankfully cleared up. it was 4 pm and we were back on the road. 5 hours later we were approaching Almora, and thats when we got the cameras rolling again, the lights of the city at a distance could be compared to stars gleaming in the sky on these mountain roads. it was 10:00 pm by the time we crossed Almora, and our next destination dhanachuli was still 80 Kms away. The stretch from Almora to Dhanachuli was amazing, we did not see a single human being on this road, it was borderline spooky but equally mind numbing to know that it was just us and the road. we finally got to dhanachuli at close to 1:30 Am. We weren’t expecting food at this hour but our friends at Camp ArtScape were right up there in the hospitality department. After some rum and boiled eggs for dinner it was time to pass out. Day 7 Welcome to Camp Artscape at Dhanachuli, this was the last leg of our Uttarakhand Expedition. Dhanachuli is again at a height of over 2000 meters and is close to Mukteshwar. it was now around 10:30 am and our stomach’s were growling for food, the road to the dhanachuli market is a 15 minute trek from the campsite, and will give you a sense of what step farming really looks like. we got to the breakfast place by around 11:15 am. Nothing fancy for breakfast, but that doesnt mean that it was not tasty. The Next Stop was the BhaluGhad Waterfall. we got here by around 1:15 in the afternoon. yes there is a 10 Rupee per person ticket that you need to procure before you can head on the trek to the actual water fall. 15 minutes later we were on our way to the the waterfall. it was quite a distance. After half an hour of him leading the way, we finally got to a point where we came across the sign board that read “Water Fall” so it is true, there is a water fall. There was still some distance that we had to cover to get to the water fall, and some parts of this trek were trechearous. It was almost 2:30 in the afternoon now and we had made it to the Waterfall. While there may not have been too much of water rushing down the sides of the mountain, we were told that no one knows the exact depth of the water at the base. it looked like a little pond but we were warned and asked not to get into the water because no one was really sure about how deep it was and also a few people had drowned here recently. for once we adhered to the instructions given to us by the locals. in 40 minutes we were back to the gate and on our way to where the car was parked. We got to Camp Artscape at 4:15 in the evening, dropped our friends back at the camp and were now on our way back to delhi. An amazing journey from one side of uttarakhand to the other was finally coming to an end. The Land Of Gods and Temples was truly heaven on earth. We had mixed feelings, the Joy of having been there was now being mixed with the profound sadness of having to leave this enchanting place. Haldwani was where civilisation starts, we stopped off at a Pizza Hut there, had a coffee the first one in 7 days. And drove into the night.
Hello Everyone & Welcome to episode 6 of our Uttarakhand expedition. For those of you who are just tuning in, Getting to this part of Kumaon was a journey in it self. You can click on the link which is on the top right corner to check out the last episode. Now Coming Back to what we have in store for you today .. . Munsiyari is a part of the Pitoragarh District in Kumaon, Nestled in the Snow Capped Peaks of the HImalayas, This scenic mountain settlement is perched at an altitude of 2300 Mts. Hotel Bilju’s Inn is where we managed to get a room the night before, we will come to details on the place later. We were done with breakfast and on the road by 10 AM. it was impossible to imagine that this was the same road that we were on last evening except for the fact that it is Narrow As Fuck. Every turn had a spectacular view of the Himalayas. we took a break at 10:30 to capture some breath taking views of the Panchachuli peaks. As we kept getting higher on the mountain road we could see a corresponding increase in the density of the snow that was on it. The Kala Muni Temple is around 15 Kilometers from Munsiyari in the direction of Birthi Falls, we got to Kala Muni Top at 11:00 Am. It is close to 3000 Meters Above Sea Level and covered with Snow. The Kala Muni Temple Faces the Nanda Devi Peak And the Locals have great faith in the blessings of Goddess Kali. According to local legends, way back in time a certain Maharishi Kala Muni would be surrounded by wild animals while performing daily rituals at the temple. We completely believe in this legend and had our own encounters with some very furry and adorable Wild Mountain Dogs. We played with them till they lost interest and went else where in search of food.. And then got on to doing things which we normally wouldnt have.. yes we were now behaving like tourists and posing for pictures right in the middle of the snow laden road. We were out of Kalamuni Top by 11:30 and on the way back to Munsiyari when we had the opportunity to see a few Himalayan Vultures in Action. This was a brief but upclose encounter with nature. Food was definitely not a priority Today, It was 1 in the afternoon now and we had been driving around the town aimlessly. We got to point from where we could see what was perhaps the only cell site that there is in Munsiyari, from a distance. It wasn’t a proper road or any thing that led us there, but we wanted to go. so we went, and in the bargain we had discovered the Best Spot in all of Munsiyari. We pulled up on the edge of this valley where the cell tower was, and got out to take a look at the snow clad Himalayas at a distance. We then proceeded to the absolute edge where the tower had been constructed, and the view of the valleys surrounding the tower were a different level of spectacular. Trust me, radiation from that tower was the last thing we a hoot about. we could see all of munsiyari from this point, it was mind numbing After an hour of doing nothing but chilling out, looking around and being awe struck from every angle, the time had come for us to move on. With a very heavy heart and a lot of reluctance we got into the car. It was then that we realised that the Nanda Devi temple at Munsiyari is not very far from here, and that was where we were headed to next. The Nanda Devi temple is dedicated to the revered Goddess Parvati and the temple reserves a special level of importance in the lives of the people here. The temple itself is just one small white structure, but it is a 3 km trek from the base at where we had parked. Apart form a never before experienced serenity, the view of the Panchachuli Peaks was breath taking. it was evening but the sun wasn’t setting any time soon, and we were not in a mood to go back to the hotel. we aimlessly drove around and were on a quest to explore the town. we had now entered the Baazar area which was once a bustling hub for trade with tibet. The Munsiyari Bazaar is knows for Medicnial Plants and herbs amongst other organic agricultural produce. Done with our little exploratory quest we were headed back in the direction of our cosy hotel. We stopped to take one last glance at the Panchahuli Peaks which were set against the early evening skies. we were at the hotel by sunset, now as you’d recall we did not have much of a choice but to check into Bilju’s Inn, but then again this just worked in our favour. This is one hotel with a view. For some reason it looked like we were just a few kilometers away from the moon, it almost looked like some one had switched on a warm white lamp. but what was really epic was how the snow clad himalaya’s light up in the moonlit skies. We ordered food, ate it while staring out of our window in amazement of our sorroundings and went to bed soon after. So long for now, and stay tuned for more from our trip in our upcoming video.
Road Trip To Munsiyari in a Suzuki S-Cross. From One Side of Uttarakhand (Garhwal ) to the other (Kumaon) Day 2 Tungnath Chopta – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Rudraprayag- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Day 3 Rudraprayag- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Devimanda- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Gandasu- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Karnaprayag- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Karkot – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Srinagar- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Rudraprayag – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Day 4 Rudraprayag- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Gauchar- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Kranaprayag – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Nautha – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Sunaun – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Deorada – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Tungeshwar- Garhwal, Uttarakhand Gwaldam – Garhwal, Uttarakhand Garkhat – Kumaon, Uttarakhand Dangoli – Kumaon, Uttarakhand Dhal Malla – Kumaon, Uttarakhand National Highway 309 A Taknar – Kumaon, Uttarakhand Chaukori – Kumaon, Uttarakhand State Highway 11 , Kumaon Uttarakhand Thal – Kumaon, Uttarakhand Nachnani – Kumaon, Uttarakhand Tejam – Kumaon, Uttarkhand Birthi Falls – Kumaon, Uttarakhand Khaliya Top – Kumaon, Uttarakhand Munsiyari – Kumaon, Uttarkhand
Saket – New Delhi Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh Laxman Jhula, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand Devaprayag, Uttarakhand Bagwan Laga, Uttarakhand Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, Kund, Uttarakhand, Chopta, Uttarakhand, Tungnath Temple, Chopta Uttarakhand, Chandrashila, Chopta Uttarakhand
Today we are going to focus on the three route options we had at hand Option 1 : Hyderabad to Chennai via Kurnool, Kadappa & Tirupati in that order – 12 hours and 49 Minutes Option 2 : To Chennai Via – Peddavoora, Ongole & Nellore – 13 Hours Option 3: The easternmost route also via Ongole & Nellore – 12 Hours 22 Minutes. We decided to go with the third option The sun had set by now and it just about started to get dark, we did pass a few towns and villages on the way, but the condition of the road was generally good, driving through the evening was effortless. By around 9 in the night we had covered 300 kilometers, which is a little under half the total distance from our hotel in hyderabad to our destination in chennai. important to remember for those of you driving through the night, Dinner is almost always never a good idea, if you are the only one driving, it doesn’t exactly help especially when you need to stay focused and awake through the drive. After having crossed some more toll booths, the road was just getting better and better, for someone who talks so highly about karnataka roads, Andhrapradesh was putting up a tough fight, these are the type of highways that make driving with our country an absolute pleasure. Now if you are a regular as far as Highway Driving Goes, you will know better than to expect well lit roads through most of your drive through the night. but one thing thats commendable about the drive from hyderabad to chennai and particularly the route we are on is the way that the highway is lit up, the roads look like they really want to be driven on. Now obviously we are still very much in India, and the one thing that you cannot do any thing about no matter how good the roads are is the traffic situation. it was around 11:20 in the night and we had to cover a little under 260 kilometers still, to get to chennai. this is when we ran into, almost an hour long traffic jam. after all that fantastic driving, we came to a complete stand still for a while. Thankfully for us the ordeal was short lived, at least as compared with prior experiences. we were on the highway once again and were greeted by what appeared to be the last toll booth before entering tamilnadu It was past 1 Am now and we were back on excellent roads once again, this was the last leg of our journey, albeit a little delayed due to the traffic jam, we had no problems what so ever when it came to making it up, my leg was on the accelerator pedal and very much in the direction that we were headed to. We are genuinely thankful to CCD for being there when we need them the most. we stopped off for a quick cup of Coffee , and our last pitstop before getting to our destination. like I’d said earlier we had done 550 kms by now and spent 12 hours on the road .. 150 km is not exactly a big distance but after 500 plus kms behind the wheel it can start to get to you.. I wasn’t exactly sleepy but was most definitely a bit on the tired side …. any way I’m glad I did not part take in dinner .. because if I had eaten … we wouldn’t have been able to make it that night. the last 100 or so kilometers on any drive aren’t really the best by any stretch of imagination If there is anything other than the will to drive, only the nostalgia of coming back to a city you know will keep you going at most times.
To tell you the truth i do not quite remember this trip as vividly as one should 26th march 2019 we set off on an adventure , one that would eventually take us to places we’ve never been. the initial plan was to go from mumbai to hyderabad and then to chennai on account of work, normal people would have chosen to book tickets and get on a flight, but we .. we aren’t normal so we decided to pack our bags and dump them in my s-cross, the rest is as they say “history”
26th march 2019 : 7:30pm (goregaon mumbai) packed up and began dumping stuff into our dickie 26th march 2019 : 9:30pm (turbhe mumbai) our first halt for dinner at navi mumbai before exiting to the pune mumbai expressway a by chance encounter with coolberg non alcoholic beer .. a potential client for us at that time alongside starters and much needed nutrition. 26th march 2019 : 11:30pm (still turbhe mumbai) having eaten much more than we’d anticipated, as usual 🙂 .. we decided to hit the road in the company of our friend oliver schories. 26th march 2019 : 11:45pm (Pune Expressway) In Spite of the heavy food and whatnot, we’ve managed to hit the Expressway now. this marks the first 50 km of our journey. 26th march 2019 : 11:57pm (Pune Expressway- Toll 1 ) a whole ten minutes later we’ve hit the first toll on the expressway. 27th march 2019 : 00:05am (Pune Expressway- Toll 1 ) albeit technically the next day, a whole 8 minutes later we’ve decided to take our next pitstop at the new food court en-route pune on the express way. this was a Starbucks / Bio Break. 27th march 2019 : 00:42am (Pune Expressway) by now we’ve managed to clear out of the expressway traffic and finally hit the expressway, it now feels like the expressway. 27th march 2019 : 01:09am (Pune Expressway- Toll 2) we are now at the talegaon exit toll and proceeding towards pune city. 27th march 2019 : 01:29am (Pune city) 20 minutes later we’ve managed to enter pune, and are driving towards god knows where 27th march 2019 : 02:00am (Pune city Exit toll 1) we have driven through pune and are on our exit toll towards solapur. 27th march 2019 : 02:35am (PitStop) three hours later and enroute solapur we’ve taken our second major pitstop. 200 kms done. 500 kms left 27th march 2019 : 02:45am (Solapur Highway) ten minutes later we’re back on the road and well on our way to solapur. 27th march 2019 : 03:05am (Solapur Highway Toll 1 ) We encounter our next toll not so much time later. 27th march 2019 : 03:15am (Solapur Highway ) I’ve never really seen this stretch of the highway before, nothing interesting as such, we’re just cruising along. 27th march 2019 : 04:05am (Solapur Highway ) 300kms done now, that leaves us with 400 to go. Hyderabad we’re coming 27th march 2019 : 04:30am (Solapur Highway PitStop) Who wants to see rabbits at 4:30 in the morning, WE do 🙂 .. say hi to these guys.. i personally dont appreciate caging them, but at this hour there is not much else we can do, quick bio break and back on the road. 27th march 2019 : 05:30am (Solapur Highway ) Can we please stop calling this a Highway ? trust me this road doesn’t make sense paying any sort of a toll for. 27th march 2019 : 05:45am (Solapur Highway Toll 2) 15 minutes later there is another toll this one i guess was worth it, 27th march 2019 : 06:05am (Solapur Highway) the night is almost. over and we can see the sun coming up slowly but surely, it’s also cold obviously colder than bombay. 27th march 2019 : 06:30am (Solapur Highway – PitStop) we’ve been driving through the night now, and the sun is finally showing up, we’re tired now and getting a little cranky so i think its time to take a break. see some flowers. Trust me this road is also getting to us now. 27th march 2019 : 08:15am (Solapur Highway – Fuel PitStop) a while later later and after a really shitty patch of road i spot a Fuel Pump, its time to tank up and take a break. 27th march 2019 : 08:35am (Solapur Highway – Maharashtra Exit) half an hour later we’ve come to the state border, im assuming that we’ve managed to live through the worst patch of the highway, Onward to better roads i guess. 27th march 2019 : 10:55am (Breakfast Stop – AP ) it’s 11 am now almost but it feels like 3 in the afternoon, we’ve stopped to have breakfast, i dont know if i have pictures but the dosai and upma were heaven .. it honestly felt like lunch 🙂 remember that we should have been at our hotel by now according to google maps .. but then when you’re driving interstate in India always make sure you multiply time by 1.5 or 2. 27th march 2019 : 11:15am (AP – Toll ) 15 minutes later and after gobbling down lunch, sorry breakfast we’re back on the road. 27th march 2019 : 12:50pm (reaching our destination ) after a long drive and with the scorching heat above our heads, we’ve managed to cross the outskirts of Hyderabad and relieved that we’ve reached our hotel.