BHPian Gannu_1 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:The Final Update – Part 1:Hi everyone, this is going to be the final update as far as my Polo’s ownership is concerned, as the car left us for good on 30 Oct 2022, Sunday, after having served us faithfully for 9 years and 1,78,325 km on the odo. It was a very emotional departure, as the sequence of events will tell you. Some of you are already aware of this development and a few did ping me asking when the ownership thread would be updated. Honestly, I really did not feel like penning this down (unlike the other update posts on this very thread), but I must give this ownership thread a meaningful closure. Since this will be a long read, let me split this into 2 parts – the last 2 road trips we had undertaken and why I let go of the car. I purchased the Polo back in October 2013 when I was posted at Surat, Gujarat. I was 26 years old then – young, enthusiastic, 5 years of work experience, just joined Team BHP and this was my first car. At that point, I really liked small, fast and chuckable cars which was really why I went with the GT diesel. After the car came home on 07 Oct 2013, a Monday I fondly recall, my interests gradually started swaying towards travelling and fiddling with the car from computers, gaming and audio equipment. We began travelling and exploring a lot! And of course, DIYs! Every other weekend, the two of us – Krishnamoorthy, my colleague and good friend for life and I, would draw plans to travel somewhere – Saputara, Daman, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, etc. or tinker with the car. A year later, I tied the knot with Soumya who was doing her post-grad. in Udaipur. So on another weekend, we drove to Udaipur! And then another trip to help her with her documentation and thesis submission. Then she enrolled for her PhD at Anand. I began travelling to Anand during the weekends. Time flew and we travelled to several places in the North all the way to Ladakh and the West covering Somnath, Dwarka, Kutch, Koteshwar while missing some of the places which I really looked forward to visit – Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, the border at Longewala, etc. In April 2016, I moved down south to Chennai. I ended up covering the places of interest south-side. Before the pandemic struck, I used to drive to Palakkad every month to visit my folks who are retired and settled there. And then, gradually, the fuel prices and toll rates were hiked and I switched to travel by train. I began saving a lot of money, effort and time! But the charm of travelling in the evening on a 6-laned highway was missed. You lose some, you gain some. My colleagues and I would visit Pondicherry and Yercaud often. And thanks to the ships that were being built at our shipyard, I would often be posted there during the final phase of sea trials and delivery of the ships. Life was really good. Thanks to my postings at two different parts of the country (Surat & Chennai), I traveled to a lot of places as I’ve indicated in the map below (a star/ yellow dot shows the car & I have spent at least one night’s stay at the place): Before we come to it, let me share some bits on the final trips we undertook during August and September last year. During August, my wife and son (who was 2 years old back then) flew down from Gujarat for their vacation and spent a month with me, dividing the time between Chennai and Palakkad. Whilst at Chennai, we drove to Mahabalipuram and Yercaud during the weekends and had a great time. At our usual place of stay in Yercaud – MM Resorts: We then drove from Chennai to Palakkad. We had planned a trip to the Mookambika temple, Kollur for my son’s vidyarambam (a Hindu tradition performed before a child begins his education). Broadly, the route would be Palakkad – Mysore – Kollur – Calicut – Palakkad. Before we undertook that trip, the annual oil change service on my car which was due was completed at my home, the night before we started the trip. Day 1:Palakkad to Mysore – 260 km, 6 hoursThe first halt was at Mysore and we drove via the Sathyamangalam – Dhimbham ghats. Immaculately maintained roads with 27 hairpin bends through the forest reserves and with the intermittent rains, we loved this drive! Based on some earlier reports, I was expecting traffic and road blocks but the roads were nearly empty and we had a hassle-free drive. I was also visiting Mysore after 2008, when I had joined for work after graduation and had stayed for over a month. I also met my cousin who was doing her graduation and we had dinner at a restaurant based on her recommendation – Gufha. We were stay put at SBI’s guest house and retired for the night.Day 2:Mysore to Kollur – 380 km, 8.5 hoursBefore we departed Mysore for Kollur, we wanted to visit Chamundeshwari Temple situated at the Chamundi Hills. The route to the temple seems popular with cyclists in the city as we spotted several cyclists doing this route. Here is a pic taken 30 years apart in front of the famous Mahishasura statue (the statue wore a different paint scheme back then): One from the top of Chamundi Hills: Also learnt that the name Mysore originates from the Kannada word Mahishooru, meaning the village of Mahishasura. Parag (he’s been AWOL for a long time now) suggested that we do not miss a monastery which is hardly 90 km from Mysore and not even a detour from our road to Mangalore. Little did I know we were passing through Coorg and this was the famous monastery situated in Coorg – the Namdroling Monastery! We took a stroll inside the monastery and spent close to an hour: Resumed the journey and we broke for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant at Puttur – Hotel Keerthana. I am sucker for naan! Give me a good gravy and I’ll devour 3-4 pieces of it. Aw man, this restaurant did not disappoint! For one, I wasn’t expecting them to have a tandoor and serve naans. I usually eat light when I am driving but made an exception and gorged on the naans and mushroom gravy, finishing it off with a glass of gudbud – a Mangalore based dessert made of 2-3 flavours of ice cream with fruits, nuts, jelly, syrup etc. served in a tall glass. Essentially, a falooda. During this trip, I must have had at least 4 gudbuds on different occasions. Coincidentally, this was also the same day the PM was visiting Mangalore and roadblocks for VIP traffic movement was apparent. A good friend and former classmate – Manu who used to stay at Mangalore back then, had warned me of this. Luckily, Google Maps put us on a route devoid of all the blockades and we joined the NH 66, Kochi – Panvel highway. It was a straight drive along the coastal route all the way till the right detour towards Kollur. We reached Kollur before evening and visited the temple. Day 3:Our main agenda for the day was to complete our son’s Vidyarambham ceremony. Completed that early in the morning and we were free by 9 AM: We came back to our stay, freshened up and drove to Murudeshwar which was 60 km or less than 1.5 hours from Kollur on the 4-laned, Panvel – Kochi coastal highway which is being redone now as we speak. The tower at Murdeshwar Siva temple gives a lovely, all-round view from the gallery atop. Depending on the time of the day, you may experience some crowd for boarding the lift. Check out the views below: Parag also suggested we have our lunch at Shetty Lunch Home, Kundapura which serves a specialty dish – chicken ghee roast, the order for which has to be placed at least 3-4 hours in advance. So I called the hotel before we departed Murdeshwar, placed an order for a plate and off we drove to Kundapura. Parked the car close to the court area, walked to the hotel and we were able to get a table for the 5 of us without much waiting. They served the specialty dish, and oh man, I’ve never savoured such an amazing starter in a long time! Absolutely loved it! We had the usual dal fry, a chicken gravy (I forget which one it was now), tandoori rotis: And of course, a glass of gudbud: After lunch, we returned to our stay at Kollur and called it a day. Had a long drive the next day, which I gathered through Team BHP & Google Maps, was going to be painful considering:We were entering KeralaRoadworks happening and,Driving on a 2-laned highway during the day.The route was Kollur to Calicut via Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Thalassery. Day 4:Kollur to Calicut – 360 km, 8.5 hours We started as early as we could and hit the road by 0530. I knew Bekal was on the way and we stopped at the Bekal Fort. Bekal Fort is the largest fort in Kerala, located at Kasaragod. The fort with its massive walls and the bastion overlooks the Arabian Sea. This fort was featured in the song Uyire (Tu Hi Re) in the 1995 movie Bombay: And the song Dwadashiyil in the 2000 Malayalam movie Madhura nombarakaatu: After an hour of strolling inside the fort, we resumed the journey and broke for lunch at MVK Travellers Restaurant, Kannur. Ate a good Thalassery Biryani here along with chicken curry and the malabar porotta: Resumed the journey and we reached Calicut in the evening. We were staying at my maternal uncle’s home. No matter how many times I come to Calicut, I always love dining at Paragon! Of course, I love Sagar, Rahmath and Topform too but the lure of Paragon to people who stay outside of Calicut, like me, is different! Anyhoo, here are the mandatory snaps of the food: After a loooooooong drive and a tummy full of awesome food, I just wanted to crash for the night!Day 5:Calicut to Palakkad – 140 km, 3 hours The last leg of our road trip and little did I know this would be the last one, I would be undertaking in our Polo. We did this leg peacefully and reached home 3 days before Thiruvonam. We spent the Thiruvonam at home and had a lovely sadhya. A week later, on 11 September 2022, Sunday, I started back to Chennai from Palakkad after what was a lovely, long vacation with my family. This was also the first time, my parents tagged along with us for a road trip. To be continued… Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
