After taking some time off for a couple of months, I was back again with the craving for a long drive. I had been targeting various 5-star properties all across India and Taj Bekal Kerala, was right there on the top of my to-do list. It is about an hour of driving distance from Mangalore Airport and most of the guest who visit Taj Bekal, do fly in to Mangalore unless of-course they are driving from somewhere relatively nearer. However, people like me are rare, who would prefer to drive all-the-way from Hyderabad, instead of taking a flight.
I planned the trip, booked a room, pit stop in Bangalore and in no time I was in my favourite place, which is behind the wheels.
Day 1: Hyderabad to Bangalore 554 km
Started from Hyderabad: 5-07 AM
Reached Taj Bangalore (near Airport): 12-14 PM
Total time: 7 hours 7 minutes
R&R: 10 minutes for refueling
Total Toll: Rs. 700
Max Speed: 118 km/hr (I always set the speed limiter in the car at 118 km/hr so that I don't have the hear the annoying beep of 120 ever)
Driving Style: Very heavy foot, Mode - Dynamic. Touching the redline on every overtake of trucks, even if it not needed, gives me the real fun of driving. I'm not at an aggressive driver and I tend to take a step back if i find people trying to race me. It doesn't make any sense on Indian roads with Indian public. But if i have the empty road ahead, and I'm overtaking a truck right when it leaves the lane open for me to shoot ahead, I always end up touching 6000 rpm. It gives me an immense pleasure in doing so. Yes, the fuel economy takes a hit. When i did the Jabalpur trip, I was on a very light foot driving style and it resulted in a fuel economy of 18.2 km/l. This time on a heavy foot driving style, the car returned 13.5 km/l. that's a lot of difference, but I would say even 13.5 is not that bad considering how many times i touched the rpm red line.
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| View from my room @ Taj Bangalore |
Day 2: Bangalore to Bekal (Kerala) 404 km
Started from Bangalore: 8-07 AM after breakfast at the hotel
Reached Taj Bekal: 3-51PM
Total Time: 7 hr 44 min
R&R: 20 minutes near Madikeri Coorg
Total Toll: Rs. 560
Max Speed: 118 km/hr
Driving Style: Heavy foot
The drive from Bangalore to Bekal was an interesting one. One will have to go all the way up through the hills of western ghats and then go all the way down till the coast of Arabian sea. On the way you get the Bangalore Mysore Expressway, you also get to see the beautiful forests and ghat roads of Coorg. And then you finally enter the God's own country.
The ghat section is not that difficult compared tot he other ghat sections that I have done, the roads after Mysore don't have a divider, so it is all single lane, braking and overtaking, combine that with the hill section and the driving is a bit tiring, i would say. But then again, it gives a lot of fun too and that is what is important for me.
The roads in Kerala are mostly very narrow, you have to be very cautious as they are lined up with big green trees all around, the visibility does get hampered on many twists, so stay alert, be vigilant, don't overspeed, these are the mantras of driving safely in Kerala roads.
Once you reach Taj Bekal, it is a different world all together. The calm and serene environment at the resort, the luxurious stay that it provides, the facilities and activities that you can do, is definitely one of the best out there. Bekal also has Lalit Hotels but I was not even interested to look into their website. Maybe I'm just smitten by the Taj affair.
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| @ Taj Bekal |
Day 3: At Taj Bekal
I took the cycling activity, wherein the Hotel provides you a cycle with gears and you get to ride it till Bekal Fort and back. The hotel staff will accompany you on this trip and will provide you guidance on how to cycle and when and where to change gears, etc. It is a chargeable activity nevertheless quite apt to the experience that it provides. For me, it was the first time in my life, that i was riding a cycle with gears. Bekal fort is about 8 km from the resort so the to-and-fro cycling will be about 16 km with some tough uphill and downhill both ways. It was real fun though, I was cycling after about 25 years or so, enjoyed every bit of it. Bekal Fort is beautiful, not like those Rajasthan forts, but it had it's own charm.
At the Fort entrance there was a Hanuman Temple and the entire fort area was clean and tidy.
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| Bekal Fort viewpoint |
Day4: At Taj Bekal
I also booked the morning bird watching session with the hotel naturalist. Not a lot of birding opportunity in and around the property, but i really got the best of the shots of Brahminy Kite. That one shot of Brahminy Kite was enough to give me the joy out of the entire birding session.
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| Brahminy Kite |
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| Southern Coucal |
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| White-throated Kingfisher |
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| Lesser Goldenback male |
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| Wire-tailed Swallow |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Black-hooded Oriole |
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| Indian Golden Oriole |
I can't say enough about Taj Bekal. The property is right beside the beach and you must not miss the sunset here. The beach is not their privately owned property, but you won't find any general public out there as it is quite exclusive. Taj also takes an effort in keeping it well maintained.
The activities at Bekal are many and one must try to engage in them if you want to make memories. Go for the Bekal fort morning cycling, also go for the sunset houseboat cruise, go for morning nature trek and bird watching. Besides if you still have time left, then go for zip-lining, archery, yoga, ayurved spa and countless indoor games too. Unless you just want to spend your time soaking in your private plunge pool. Bekal has everything that you need to make a wonderful vacation.
I took the houseboat river cruise during sunset and the experience was surreal. Those backwaters were so beautiful, you can spend hours just keep looking at them. The houseboats are not allowed in the open sea but they take you till the mouth of the Arabian sea and back.
Day 5: Drive from Taj Bekal to Taj Yeshwantpur Bangalore 367 km
Started from Bekal: 8-47 AM after breakfast at the hotel
Reached Taj Yeshwantpur: 3-44PM
Total Time: 6 hr 57 min
R&R: 20 minutes near Madikeri Coorg
Total Toll: 450
Max Speed: 118 km/hr
Driving Style: Heavy foot
The reason why i booked Taj Yeshwantpur on my return journey was because it was near to the entry of Bangalore from Mysore. Taj Bangalore Airport one was on the opposite end and I had to cross the entire city to reach there. That i did on my onward journey but this time i wanted to experience Taj Yeshwantpur and i also wanted to save driving time on my return journey. As per the perfect location of both hotels, it is always better to stay at airport one while coming from Hyderabad and stay at Yeshwantpur if returning via Mysore.
Day 6: Drive from Taj Yeshwantpur to Hyderabad Home 576 km
Started from Taj Yeshwantpur: 9-55 AM after breakfast at the hotel
Reached Home: 5-40 PM
Total Time: 7 hr 35 min
R&R: Only refueling
Total Toll: 945
Max Speed: 118 km/hr
Driving Style: Heavy foot
I am not sure why the toll was more on the return journey even though I took the same route on both occasions. But one way toll from Bangalore to Hyderabad for Rs. 945 was definitely steep. It may not be bothering me so much but it definitely will bother many others. 10 years ago the toll was hardly around Rs. 400 for this one way trip. Imagine at what rate it is increasing. There was also a time in India when the tolls were only limited for a certain number of years or months, now it is everlasting and ever increasing. I wouldn't mind if they end up giving us good roads to drive. At the end of the day, even if one ends up getting good roads, who will stop the idiots who come out on the road driving like maniacs. That's a topic not worth mentioning here. They might show off a sticker on their bumper from India's biggest motor blog, but when it comes to common sense of driving, these people have zero brains.
Everything aside, this was a very successful and rejuvenating trip. A wonderful drive, amazing stay and countless memories.
