The Desert Safari Quad Bike (Buggy) Experience, Dubai – Sun, Sand, & Fun + Do’s and Dont’s during the trip

General information

Any country is well known for its traditional attractions and Dubai is no exception. Being a desert country what better way is it to enjoy Dubai than a visit to the desert. Authentic experiences of sand, sun, camels, dance and some fun! The desert safari camp is about 89km from Dubai international airport and can vary slightly based on where you start from on your itinerary.

This is a post noon desert tour experience so if you wish to allocate time, find a day when you can get up late, have a late lunch and be ready to leave for this trip. There are lots of travel agents who organize special vehicles for this trip for you, so it should not be difficult for you to find one by looking on the internet.

Since you will be dune bashing, this needs a sophisticated car/SUV to handle that kind of terrain. Typical tours are undertaken with Toyota land cruiser Prado 4×4 SUVs. I did see some Fortuners and was even fortunate to have got a Hummer myself

Buggy Rides

The Safari ride has two parts, first they take you to a quadricycle ride where you can experience driving quadricycle or quad bikes as they call them in sandy terrain. This gets the thrill started for you which culminates in the actual dune bashing across few kilometers of sand dunes. Typically if you leave reasonably early you will reach the quad biking point accordingly. The safari motor rides is itself a good one hour from DXB international airport and is located in Nazwa/Margham area (in sharjah)

There are two or three people who provide quad bikes including Al Badayer, Sahara Amusement and golden desert motorcycle rentals. We had been to Sahara. We reached there by about 3pm which was the right time. There were hardly anyone and the sun was slowly going down. The temperatures remained hot so its preferable to carry a hat, wear sunglasses and choose comfortable cotton clothing as needed. These are called buggy rides and there are lots of buggies to cater to everyone’s needs. The management understands pretty well that this is one of the major attractions so they have done everything possible to keep the supply stocked so no one is left high and dry.

Duration and Driving conditions

The ride itself is for about 30 minutes and the buggies use a lot of gas to ride on. No matter how much of driving you have done, do not assume that riding a buggy is easy. It presents its own challenges and kids MUST be accompanied by adults. When you are with kids drive safely. Its rare that a buggy would fall down completely since its on four wheels. But I did have a tricky situation where it got stuck in the mud and I had to wait for the helpful guys to arrive to remove me from that situation. The buggy also tends to veer slightly to one direction so its not that you point the handle straight and it may go stright indeed. Due to sand it can be tricky to ride this.

Cost of the rides & cautionary instructions

The buggy rides cost 250 AED for 30 mintues. And no you are in tough luck if you provide your credit card as everything is only on CASH basis. Luckily for us our driver had the cash so I loaned that amount from him. There are absolutely no ATMs or major shops there so its best you pack everything you need upfront including cash. Further the shops at the quad bike point are super expensive and even a tender coconut can cost 20 AED which is ridiculous – its nearly 400 bucks which is 4x costlier than the costliest coconut in India possible 🙂

Instructions for buggy use

Some general terms of the buggy use

30 minutes of ride
people only for the ride
Adults can take kids behind them
Changing people is not allowed so you need to choose the 2 people who will go on a buggy and do 30 minutes of that because depending on how many people you go with so many buggies are utilized which is a cash cow for the management
You can take photos wherever you wish to just ensure that not many people are around riding their own buggies

TIPS and words of caution for better preparedness for the ride

On some negotiation the management agrees you can swap people. So I drove with my wife for sometime, then swapped each of my two kids for the next ten minutes each. But by the time I was 25 minutes into the ride, I was actually fed up.
The buggy moves forward when you press a lever like the horn you have on local two wheelers in india and this causes a lot of finger pain after 25 minutes of ride. You need thumbs of steel to use this stuff
Post 4PM there are enormous number of buggies around you including various sized ones – 2 pax, 4 pax etc. These generate a lot of petrol fumes all around so you can feel nauseated pretty soon
After your drive, go wash your face in that makeshift toilet, sit in the lawn and see other buggies ride around – that is the best thing to do
If you get stuck in the mud, raise your hand and someone will come and help you, if you feel like the vehicle will topple, get down from the vehicle
When you are stuck, dont raise the accelerator else there will be lots of mud that will thrown on your back and head sometimes into your eyes as well – please be careful about this part
Carry plenty of juice or water for yourself and keep it in your car – it will come in handy after some bit of buggy riding, plus you can save yourself some cash even!

If you liked this post, I will bring to you in my next post the Sand Dune Bashing experience !
Leave me your comments below on what you feel, and subscribe to my blog.

The Jog Falls travel experience

Travelling to Jog Falls

As part of my previous post I have already written what it takes to go from Bangalore to Jog Falls. We stayed at Sagar in a hotel called Green Embassy, whose review I have given in another blog post. If you wish to know more about the hotel please click here.

Jog Falls tourist attraction

Bus journey from Sagar to Jog Falls is roughly around 25 km plus or minus and it is a treacherous route down the Mountain and up the Mountain again. Since it’s a waterfall you will need to go down the Mountain to some extent to see the falls from the top. There are lot of private buses that operate from areas like Sagar up to Jog Falls in a regular frequency.

The cost of the bus is roughly around 1 Rupee per kilometre so we ended up paying around 20 or 30 rupees for a ticket one way per person. What is more important to note is the time it takes to cover this distance and it is slightly on the higher side due to the terrain. It is quite common that you might feel a bit giddy and may even feel like puking.

Jog Falls pathway

The Jog Falls is a Majestic tourist attraction and has roughly around 1300-1400 steps all the way down. The steps themselves neatly laid out and it gets steeper by the flight as you reach down. It takes roughly about an hour to go down and between an hour and a half or two hours to come back up. We carried only a couple of bottles of water along with our bags down. It is highly recommended that you keep some food like biscuits or the likes while going down. The time when we went was in November and hence the water was pretty less in the falls itself. Like I said earlier in one of my posts this was more of a backpack trip and we had to do it in haste without rhyme or reason.

The best time to go would be between June to August during which time the thunderous falls are a sight to behold.

Safety along the stairs

There would always be a question what happens to you if you go alone all the way down or even with another person all the way down. Would there be somebody who would pickpocket you? Or rob you? Or mug you or even much worse. What is worse is that there are just two security guards at the bottom of the falls. These guys cannot help much and they are just there to control the crowds. Sometimes there could be a set of unruly people who just want to have fun. So far I have not heard of any mishap but there is a genuine risk of something happening. Going down is essentially at your own risk although it is not a very difficult thing and you do not hear incidents happening every other day.

Some things to take care of while going down

take a few bottles of water and something to eat like biscuits
preferably go between 9AM to 11AM or even earlier
as the sun rises it gets pretty difficult to come back up again
safety is at your own risk so be aware of your surroundings
the mobile signals are not available as you go down so be aware of that
preferably go with someone else or as a group of people
time your descent and ascent accordingly
while coming back up again take as much rest as you want wherever you want
do not stress yourself to climb up the stairs fast
ample time to come up give time for others to take rest but at the same time keep looking at your watch in order to come back in a reasonable time
the staircase USA open between 9AM in the morning and 6AM in the evening
if you are going during the monsoon, take an umbrella and use proper clothing like shoes/raincoats etc.
It could also be cold during monsoons, so cover your ears and chest if you can

Food options at Jog Falls

The Options for eating food at Jog Falls are extremely Limited. So you need to be aware of this and plan accordingly. There are a few stores selling frozen paratha or chapati along with some ill made curry.

The shops also stock a lot of ice creams & beverages cold and hot. So you should be able to get your Coke or Fanta or Pepsi easily. Please avoid the rice items here as the rice is not well cooked. Additionally there is also a KSTDC hotel which is only slightly better than the shops around.

Still this restaurant has its own flaws. Not all of the items listed are available at all the times. And if you go somewhere in the afternoon most other items are not available.

The best solution is to pack your own food and take it along with you so that you have something tasty and something made by you that is more edible than the ones available there.

Options to stay near Jog Falls

The couple of hotels that I did notice which is very near to Jog Falls. One of them is the Gerusoppa Maurya by KSTDC. I also noticed Jungle Lodges and resorts nearby. Barring this your nearest best option would be to stay at Sagar or Shimoga.

The total time it took for us to visit Jog Falls and be back is a little more than half a day so you need to plan accordingly if you are going there. This was of course from Sagar so if you are staying at Shimoga it could take much more than that.

Even though it was November it was pretty humid and sweating all the time. The climb down and back up only makes it worse. If you are going between July and August and plan to go down the staircase, don’t forget to take a raincoat or an umbrella and still continue to take water and some food. This should help you to be hydrated as well as mitigate the sweating problem during rainy season.

Conclusion

The Jog Falls is a must visit for everybody at least once in their life. Be careful to choose a place nearby to Jog Falls for your stay. Take care to pack food and water while going down Jog Falls pathway. Try to avoid the food which is available there. Time your visit properly. It would also serve if you can read about Jog Falls and its history before going there to appreciate the place.

If you like this post and photos please consider sharing and leave your valuable comments for me in the comment section below.

Earning the best Benne Masala Dosa in Bengaluru – Central Tiffin Rooms (Shri Sagar)

Good food is always a foodie’s dream come true. And if it is also tasty to the core, all the more merrier. What better way than to talk about Bengaluru’s myriad restaurants that serve the one most admired dish that every Bengalurean has no qualms eating at any time of the day or night – Crispy Masala Dosa !!

When it comes to serving the most tastiest Dosa, there are three restaurants that come to the mind for any true blue Bengalurean – CTR (Central Tiffin Rooms or Shri Sagar), Janata Hotel and Vidyarthi Bhavan. One can most comfortably say that Amma’s dosas are only next best to these restaurants!

Of these three restaurants CTR surely has everyone drooling for its most famous butter dosas or Benne Dosas. And eating one there is never an easy exercise. Maybe easier for the real Namma Bengluru guys living in West Bengaluru – but for the so called “IT Posh Crowd” on the eastern boundaries of this city – these great dosas need to be earned.

It means getting up very early in the morning, commuting a great deal, reaching a place, jostling to stand in the queue and go through an excrutiating wait to get the dosas that melt in your mouth with that heavenly taste. For people living on Outer Ring Road towards the IT side of the city in places like Koramangala or HSR Layout – the easiest way to reach Malleswaram is to either hire a cab or auto and get straight there.

However the nearest metro station is either Indiranagar or Jayanagar/Banashankari. For the former there is a change over from Purple Line to Green Line at Majestic station and for the latter it is just one train straight to Malleswaram station. The best part about this station is that it also has a direct entry into Mantri mall from the station itself. Now beat that !

If you are in the mood to test out the metro be warned that on weekend mornings the trains are crowded with people going to Majestic to catch outbound trains to other cities. So jostling around the crowds within the trains are the norm. It takes about an hour or more to reach Malleswaram after which it is a walk from the Metro to Margosa Road – CTR.

If you want to read more about the Green Line Metro, be sure to click here.

The restaturant itself is very small. The benches are really small which have of late been a bit remodelled to accomodate people to sit properly. That however does not spare your meal from being overlooked and discussed about by the standing queue of wishing to be dosa eaters right behind you. The madness starts as soon as you enter the restaurant in trying to find a place to secure to stand (not sit yet) in order to secure the place to sit next. Once you slot yourself into position the next obvious thing to do is keep staring at the guy eating on the table in anticipation that the fifth dosa he ordered would be the last for that day so you could get that prized place on the table.

If you are the one seated on the table be prepared for loads of comments from people standing besides you which may seem intimidating for you. They would keep repeating your order to the waiters even if you dont because – hang on – they just want you to eat your grub fast and get out of the table. You can find people strategizing across two tables and taking bets which one will get empty first so the losers can dart to the winning side to grab that table. Sometimes people can even step on your feet to make you feel the pain of wanting to earn your dosa there.

It is absolute chaos and for people who prefer a silent leave-me-alone-to-eat restaurant – please look elsewhere. In fact the moment you sit on your table that you managed to usurp from the outgoing king – the time bomb begins to tick – for you to be eliminated next. The trick is to keep ordering something so that your table always looks full. That is the only way to make sure you have your seat even if you are not really eating. There is also the first floor where you can sit and eat in peace but I have never even bothered to look at that as there is a bigger queue for you to even get a table there.

Having talked about the restaurant itself the only other thing left to talk about is its menu – the perfect benne dosas in particular. The fact that they do make poori’s or idlis and vadas does not matter for anyone. The dosas here are so good and the main reason people flock to this restaurant for – so much so that if you do not say what you want it is assumed that you want dosas and if you do not quote how much it is automatically assumed to be one plate. The buttery dosas are made small and crisp that it literally crunches and melts in your mouth. The accompanying Chutneys are sometimes off the mark and sometimes good so it depends on your luck.

The dosas here are worth all that travel and wait and are really sumptuous to say the least. You would definitely leave the restaurant smiling no matter what the cacophony was around you. Of course there is a parcel facility or you could stand out and eat as well if you’d like to. Much more simpler if you would ask me.

One more thing : This is perhaps one of the hotels in Bangalore where you would get this quality of dosa for a meagre Rs.25/- even in 2017. That is because the hotel is there for a tradition not for profits.

On a bit of history about this restaurant, someone by my name started it way before I was born or my father was born even – nevertheless its good to know a bit on this.

This hotel was started by Y.V. Subramanyam and brothers (Y.V. Srikanteshwaran, Y.V. Krishna Iyer and Y.V. Ramachandran) in the 1920s. They hailed from a village called Yelagondana Halli, Mulbagal taluk, Kolar district, whose residents are Ashtagrama Iyers of Tamil origin. It is recorded that during the visit by the Maharaja of Mysore, Y.V. Subramanyam supplied and served breakfast in traditional attire. They opened another hotel in Krishna Buildings, Avenue Road. This was a famous meeting place for writers and artists in the 1940s and 1950s, and its name is mentioned in many books and articles.[citation needed] Y.V. Ramachandran, the youngest of the brothers, was a Freedom Fighter. Subramanyam was the founder president of the Bangalore Hoteliers Association in BVK. Iyengar Road, which later became the Karnataka Hotel Owners Association. Changed circumstances in the huge joint family caused Subramanyam to sell his hotel in as is condition in the mid-1950s. It still has a vintage wall clock and rosewood furniture with Italian marble table tops. It is said the brothers passed on tips about preparations to the new owners along with advice to take care of workers by not overburdening them. It was established as Shree Sagar in 1950 by Raghavendra and the management was passed on to Ramakrishna Holla in 1952. It was bought by Sanjeeva Poojari in 1992 and was renamed Central Tiffin Room.

source: Wikipedia

I am assuming your taste buds are already active and ticking. So what are you waiting for? Head over to the CTR (also known as Shri sagar) in Malleswaram and enjoy crispy dosas and some great filter coffee to go with it. And if you do get time check out Janata Hotel nearby or Vidyarthi Bhavan in Basavanagudi.

(click to open in Google Maps)

A sneak peak into the 2017 Diwali offers on Cars for different segments for Indian Buyers

Introduction

Here are a list of categories of cars and the respective offers under different brands this festive season. If you are buying one of these, do make sure to read through the offers list before taking up a test drive.

Common offers

Most dealers will offer a corporate bonus ranging between 5-10k, and a loyalty bonus of upto 50k. Further they will also offer an exchange bonus of 50k if negotiated hard. All in all, this itself is almost equivalent to almost 1 lac of reduction in the pricing of the new vehicle.

Specific offers

Here are the specific offers by the brands for Diwali 2017

Hatchbacks
i10	Buy new Hyundai Grand i10 and Get Benefits upto Rs. 90,000. Applicable on 1.2 CRDi Sportz Option, 1.2 CRDi Magna
Ignis	No Offers
Alto	Buy Maruti Alto 800 and Get MGA worth Rs. 30,000 + Exchange Bonus upto Rs. 20,000. Applicable on All Variants Valid till – Oct 31, 2017
Tiago	No offers
Kwid	Drive home the new Renault Kwid at Special Rate of Interest of 7.99% (Schemes are available only from Renault Finance and Loan is at sole discretion of Renault Finance. Valid on bookings made between 2nd October 2017 to 31st October 2017 and retails until 31st October 2017). Applicable on 1.0 RXT Optional, RXL
Figo	Buy new Ford Figo at Ford Credit Interest rate of 7.99%. Applicable on 1.2P Ambiente MT, 1.2P Base MT
Polo	Buy new Volkswagen Polo and Get Exchange benefits upto Rs. 20,000 OR Loyalty Bonus upto Rs. 20,000 + Gifts galore on test drives, bookings and service visits. Applicable on 1.2 MPI Highline, 1.2 MPI Comfortline
Celerio	No Offers
Baleno	No Offers
i20	Buy new Hyundai i20 and Get Benefits upto Rs. 25,000 Applicable on All Variants
Jazz	Buy new Honda Jazz and Get Honda Assure @ Re. 1 + Cash Discount upto Rs. 15,000 + Win a Magical trip to U.S.A. Applicable on All Variants
KUV	No Offers
Wagon R	Buy new Maruti Wagon R and Get Consumer offer upto Rs. 35,000 + Exchange Bonus upto Rs. 20,000. Applicable on VXI Plus Optional, VXI Optional
Swift	Buy new Maruti Swift and Get Consumer offer upto Rs. 25,000 + Exchange Bonus upto Rs. 30,000. Applicable on LDI Optional, LDI BSIV

Compact Sedans
Excent	Buy new Hyundai Xcent and Get Benefits upto Rs. 50,000. *T&C’s Apply
Aspire	Buy new Ford Figo Aspire at Ford Credit Interest rate of 7.99% + Loyalty 3rd year Extended warranty + RSA (100,000 Kms) + Cash Discount upto Rs. 10,000 + Exchange Bonus.
Amaze	Buy new Honda Amaze and Get Honda Assure @ Re. 1 + Accessories worth Rs. 26,000 + Win a Magical trip to U.S.A. *T&C’s Apply Applicable on S CVT i-VTEC, S i-VTEC
Tigor	No Offers
Ameo	Buy new Volkswagen Ameo and Get Exchange benefits upto Rs. 20,000 OR Loyalty Bonus upto Rs. 20,000 + Gifts galore on test drives, bookings and service visits. *T&C’s Apply Applicable on 1.2 MPI Comfortline, 1.2 MPI Trendline
Dzire	No Offers

Premium Sedans
Honda City	No Offers
Ciaz	No Offers
Skoda Rapid	Drive home the new Skoda Rapid with Buy now pay later offer \| EMI of Rs. 11,999 \| 4 year warranty \| 4 year Road side Assistance \| 7.99% Rate of Interest. Applicable on 1.6 MPI AT Style, 1.6 MPI Active
VW Vento	Buy new Volkswagen Vento and Get Exchange benefits upto Rs. 20,000 OR Loyalty Bonus upto Rs. 20,000 + Gifts galore on test drives, bookings and service visits.Applicable on All Variants
Sunny	Buy new Nissan Sunny and Get Government Employee offer(POI) upto Rs. 10,000 \|Corporate offer upto Rs. 6,000. Applicable on All Variants
Hyundai Verna	No Offers

MUVs
Ertiga	Buy new Maruti Ertiga and Get Consumer offer upto Rs. 30,000 + Exchange Bonus upto Rs. 30,000. Applicable on SHVS LDI Option, SHVS ZDI
Lodgy	Buy new Renault Lodgy and Get Cash Discount upto Rs. 30,000 + Special Offers of Rs. 10,000 in Exchange by Renault Selection + Special Corporate/PSU Bonus upto Rs. 7,000 (Schemes are available only from Renault Finance and loan is at the sole discretion of Renault Finance).
Innova	Buy new Toyota Innova Cryta at Attractive Finance offer.
Datsun go+	Buy new Datsun Go Plus and Get Benefits upto Rs. 29,000 Includes (Free Insurance upto Rs. 14,000 + Government Employee offer(POI) upto Rs. 5,000 + Exchange Bonus upto Rs. 10,000) and Rate of Interest of 7.99% at 95% LTV + Corporate offer upto Rs. 2,000.

SUVs
Scorpio	Buy Mahindra Scorpio and Get Cash Discount upto Rs. 21,450 + Exchange Offer upto Rs. 15,000 + Corporate Discount upto Rs. 5,500.
XUV	Buy Mahindra XUV500 and Get Cash Discount upto Rs. 21,450 + Exchange Offer upto Rs. 15,000 + Corporate Discount upto Rs. 10,000.
Duster	Buy new Renault Duster and Get Insurance @ Re. 1 + Rate of Interest of 7.99% + Special Offers of Rs. 10,000 in Exchange by Renault Selection + Special Corporate/PSU Bonus upto Rs. 7,000 + Cash Discount upto Rs. 10,000 + 2gm Gold coin(Schemes are available only from Renault Finance and loan is at the sole discretion of Renault Finance).
Terrano	Buy new Nissan Terrano and Get Benefits upto Rs. 87,000 Includes (Free Insurance upto Rs. 45,000 + Government Employee offer(POI) upto Rs. 12,000 + Exchange Bonus upto Rs. 30,000) and Rate of Interest of 7.99% + Corporate offer upto Rs. 6,000.
Safari	Buy new Tata Safari Storme and Get Consumer Discount upto Rs. 15,000 + Exchange offer upto Rs. 10,000.
Nexon	No Offers
Hexa	No Offers
BRV	Buy new Honda BR-V and Get Cash Discount upto Rs. 1,00,000 + Win a Magical trip to U.S.A.
Ecosport	Buy new Ford EcoSport at Ford Credit Interest rate of 7.99% + Loyalty 3rd year Extended warranty + RSA (100,000 Kms) + Exchange Bonus + Cash Discount upto Rs. 17,500.
WRV	No Offers
S-Cross	No Offers
Isusu DMax VCross	No Offers
Creta	No Offers

Premium SUVs
Skoda Kodiaq	No offers
Jeep Compass	No Offers
Fortuner	Buy new Toyota Fortuner at Attractive Finance offer.
Endeavor	No Offers
CRV	No Offers
Tuscon	Buy new Hyundai Tucson and Get Benefits upto Rs. 1,00,000.
Tiguan	No Offers

The love and hate towards Polo GT TSI

(Image source: VW India)

Firstly its a shame that I took a test drive of the Polo GT TSI this late – nearly five years after its launch in india. Since then its price is steadily increasing north. Nevertheless finally I managed to get my hands on this hot hatch and I was rather inquisitive to see what exactly the heat is all about 🙂

Specificiations of Polo GT TSI

First things first some specs out of my way

1.2 litre petrol engine, 4 cylinders
105 bhp power at 5000 rpm
175 Nm torque at 1500-4100
< 5m turning radius
16 inch alloy wheels – so increased ground clearance
45 litre fuel tank

Features of Polo GT TSI that matter

When you buy a hatchback buyers are left high and dry with so many omissions that companies undertake just to cut costs. Take the example of cars like Celerio, or Alto, etc which give just one airbag, or no ABS or only ABS and no airbags, no wipers, no defoggers – the list gets endless. Some argue that it is done to price the car in one particular price bracket. But these are not luxuries anymore. They are darn necessities of life. Why should I feel that only me as the driver needs an airbag? Why not my co passenger? As a matter of fact why not 8 airbags, why only two ? In 2017 we must look at a proper and safe car even if it costs much.

Some of the features Polo GT offers is very admirable compared to comptetion. Some of them I personally appreciated were these:

ESP
Hill hold control for DSG petrol
Dual airbags and ABS
Cruise control (on a hatchback !)
Automatic climate control
16 inch alloy wheels – takes care of the ground clearance aspect for good

I fail to understand whether they offer the following – My feeling is they do not which is a bit of shame

Anti pinch one touch windows for all sides
Auto dimming rear view mirrors
Rain sensing wipers and follow me home headlamps
Navigation / Android auto and Apple car play

Drive experience

Coming to the drive itself, I took only a brief drive which had the following along the route

Traffic – stop and go
Broken roads
Bad road humps
Smooth stretches to accelerate quickly
Slopes

The car is seemingly quiet upon start and does not let you know what is waiting to do when you press the pedal. Once you want to move you have three ways to use the car – D mode (completely auto) and Manual mode with tiptronic gear shifts and sport mode.

D-Mode

The D-mode is perhaps the best mode to drive this car in – it has precise understanding of the gear you are likely to be in and the dual clutch is just waiting to put the car quickly in to different gears just the way you expect the car to move about. If you are stressed out this is the mode to use and the car is always willing to work just the way you want it to and slices through traffic like butter. The chilling airconditioner also makes you very comfortable and long stretches of traffic jam would not be a bother anymore with the Polo GT.

Manual mode

The manual mode expects you to use the tiptronic transmission and for some reason VW have defined it in an anti progressive way – meaning we always expect + to be down and – to be up. In the GT its the other way round. for going higher you need to move the shift forward and for reducing gear move it backward. This is seriously counter intuitive and kills the joy of manual mode. If you want to know what I mean, drive the celerio AMT.

Sports mode

The sports mode is supposed to let you be on the same gear for a while longer to enhance pickup before gear change but it acts a bit sticky and just when you think it should be changing gear even on surges of acceleration it takes just that 1-2 seconds more which is disappointing. Again do not get me wrong here – its not unbearable – just could have been a bit more perfect. For the gears itself it does hold up pretty well and does not make you feel awkward. However it is still the D-mode i would prefer if you buy this car and it will never leave you feeling bad.

Ground clearance

All the reviews I see never really bother to cover this aspect properly. Somehow being in Bangalore for me this is one of the criteria to choose a car given the pathetic condition of our roads. Thankfully with VW deciding to give 16” wheels, the car did not even touch any of the most horribly designed road humps throughout the drive. I drove on them completely impressed with the way this car handles undulations on the road.

Body roll and suspension

The suspension is not exactly soft and more on the firmer side and hence you can expect slight body roll if you turn around corners sharply or go over real bad patches too fast. Again th car handles these bad patches well just that passengers inside may get pretty jostled at times.

Chassis and safety

This car comes with all the safety aspects you can think of – Dual airbags, ABS, ESP, Hill hold, etc. Most of all this is still the car with the reassuring european build even after a good 15 years since these cars started making in into the markets. Close the door and you get that reassuring thud which makes you feel safe at all times. God forbid you are involved in an accident with the Polo, you are bound to walk out alive for sure. Rest assured you are in one of the most safest car around.

Rear space

This sucks. No … Really. I mean it. This car should have been a 3-door car. Not a 5-door. I don’t know what VW were thinking when they designed this car for 5 people. Not even 4 people can sit properly if the front passengers are nearing 6 foot heights. The rest of them can forget enjoying sitting inside. The 2018 version of VW is much more roomy for this purpose. And its definitely a more spacious car. But you know how car manufacturers operate in India. They milk the consumers first for the old crappy products on sale currently and then bring in something new and make up a story that its so much more better than the older one and try to milk the buyers even more.

VW please do not fool people that this hatchback is the best for space and so on. No one will be able to believe it. Either bring the 2018 version out soon here for same price point or just dont mention space as a luxury element while advertising.

Fuel efficiency figures expected

I don’t go by ARAI figures or other such claims of mileage. Nowadays thankfully you dont need to go by the salesman’s word for mileage. There are systems that let you know the real time effeciency that the car is returning over a trip distance of a said number of kilometers. I did check the real world figures and it showed me 6.8kmpl for the Polo GT TSI. Agreed its a test drive car and most people always drive within 1st or 2nd gear. Its more of a performance automatic rather than something tuned for mileage. But even by extrapolated standards, I do not see this car giving anything beyond 10kmpl in city traffic.

If any of you are getting anything more than this, do let me know in the comments section and I will be glad to know how. There are cars that return 13-16/17 kmpl in hatchback category for petrol itself. So arguably the mileage figures of Polo does look a bit disturbing. Real world figures can touch a tad bit around 10 or slightly more. Do not expect anything more than this for an automatic vehicle.

Please do you research before blowing your money on a machine that burns your bank account at the petrol pumps often.

Conclusion

If you are looking at a powerful hatchback with an automatic transmission that steals the show the Polo GT TSI is for you. Safety and style are unquestionable and you get your money’s worth with this car. Rear space is a big disappointment and VW could have done well to utilize rear boot space for better rear space instead. However they chose not to do that due to not wanting to alter dynamics of driving.

The drive is powerful the car is nimble and makes you happy in stop and go traffic and your legs will thank you for the rest they get with the DSG gear shift. It is one of the most powerful cars in the category and it is there in the market for a reason. Driving enthusiasts. There is a waiting period of 8 weeks on the car and no discounts whatsover. That speaks a lot of where VW wanted to be with this car and they have been there since a long time now.

So if you do decide to invest on this car for the above reasons of power, ease of use – you will not be making a mistake.

The enormity and beauty of Pamban Railway

I had never visited Rameswaram as far back as my memory goes and was not sure what to expect out of the Pamban bridge. My sons have special interest in digging up maps of all places and when I showed them where Rameswaram was they were more than eager to get there to see the historic Pamban bridge.

How to get there?

There were few options for me to get there: Rail, bus, car or part flight-then car. We booked a train from Bangalore to Madurai and then an Innova for the rest of our journey. We stayed at Astoria business hotel in Madurai on which I have a separate post if you would like to read.

The shortest distance is about 560km via Salem-Trichy-Pudukottai-Karaikkudi and would take nearly 10 to 11 hours of driving with stops in between. Since this was too much of drive, and I wanted to spend the night traveling the best option was train. I took a train from Bangalore to Madurai. Two common trains are the Tuticorin Express and Nagercoil Express. If you want to know the exact list of trains, click here. I reached Madurai at about 7:00 AM. Please be advised these trains can be late sometimes and if you have tickets in coaches S10 and beyond you can expect lots of people from unreserved compartments to be flooding these bogies as well. If you want to read my experience on that read my blog post here.

Commutation from Madurai

Once you are in Madurai – major places such as Kanyakumari, Rameswaram and Kodaikanal are all nearby – about 3 hours by drive. We took up an Innova on hire from Madurai to Rameswaram which costed us between 10-12 Rupees per kilometre. There is a fixed cost and and a variable cost split in this arrangement. Be aware that if you are going to the hills, then a separate hill stay charge of upto Rs.600/- is levied. This could be 100 or 200 higher depending on the market fluctuations.

Travel from Madurai to Rameswaram takes a good 3 hours by the time you reach you should be hungry for sure. As you go along the route, you will first enter Rameswaram via the Pamban bridge. Most vehicles make an undesignated stop here owing to the popularity of the bridge.

Pamban Bridge Railway

We went in the month of April which was presumed to be hotter but was not really so. Humid yes, but hot no. So you could go to Rameswaram within April end but no later. Best time to visit Rameswaram is between August to February when temperatures would likely be bearable. Its not so much the heat but the humidity which will kill you.

(image source: Wikipedia)

Pamban is an island that has the town of Rameswaram and it is linked to the mainland via the Pamban Bridge. It is the second largest sea bridge after Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The bridge is nearly 2km long and was rebuilt after the initial construction in 1914. Due to a cyclone that damaged the bridge in 1964, the Government had to repair it after. In 2013 the bridge got a damage due to a naval barge again. At a cost of 25 crores, the existing 65.23 metres (214.0 ft) long rolling type span was replaced with a 66 metres (217 ft) long single truss span which could be opened automatically.

The beauty of this bridge is that it even takes the weight of goods trains which are more heavier than passenger trains. At the same time when ships need to go through it can be opened up to allow them to pass. The sea with its myriad shades of blue, indigo and purple is a sight to behold at Pamban. The enormity and beauty of Pamban Railway cannot be stated and has to be seen with one’s own eyes.

This is a 4K video of a train passing through the Pamban Bridge which i hope you will enjoy. If you have a 40-55 inches TV, this would be worth a watch on that size of a TV, its almost as good as being there in real. Remember to set the resolution to 4K on YouTube.

What do you think of the Pamban Bridge experience? Write to me in the comments section.

Samsung note 5 gets Android Nougat 7.x Update in India

Samsung finally seems to be launching their Android naugat 7.x software update for the Samsung Galaxy note 5 mobile phones in India. The update which is roughly 1.03 GB in size mainly has all the components of the new operating system which brings about of fresh new user interface with lot of improvements and tweaks.

The installation itself did not take a long while over my 100 mbps home connection from ACT. Blazing fast downloads and followed by the install itself.

The usual sequence of upgrading all the possible applications for the new version of android and the installation is done. The new Nougat does look extremely cool on the rather old note 5 what with the note 7 fiasco. The icons are rounded, screen looks much better with the new layout and icons.

You can find the reasons to upgrade the note 5 to Nougat, and the reasons not to in this post.
Once you are thoroughly convinced then you can move over.

So far I did like the blue light filter setting which is rather cool, in addition to performace modes, private mode setting, and enhancements to power saving options.

Issues are bound to be there with any new update and till now I have faced only one problem which is a deal breaker for me. My fast charging has stopped now. And this is unacceptable. Are you facing issues after the upgrade? Leave your opinion in the comments below.

Ford displays new versions of Fiesta, Focus, Edge in LA Auto show

Ford launched and displayed their latest models of the Fiesta sedan, the Focus and Edge hatchbacks in the LA auto show recently.

With refreshing looks and colours, these cars are evolutions of their previous generations and it is expected that the Fiesta sedan would make its foray into India at some time.

With reasonable pricing and no nonsense driving DNA ford will continue to impress drivers and make their mainstay products more affordable for general city driving use

Lincoln navigator concept at the LA Auto Show, November 2016

Lincoln automobiles unveiled its navigator concept SUV for 2016 LA autoshow. This is a supersized SUV with top opening doors, retractable steps and extremely comfortable seating. Expected to be upwards of about $65000 (33 lakhs INR, USA price) it boasts of following features

– Six seater space with 30 way adjustable seats
– Wifi hotspot with Revel audio system
– 3.5 litre twin turbocharged V-6 with 400 bhp engine
– Pre collision braking system with pedestrian recognition
– Parking assitance system

The floating stones at Dhanushkodi

All of us know the fact that in the Ramayana, Rama along with his monkey friends were able to set foot in lanka on a bridge built by the monkey kings. This journey was done from dhanushkodi from where Sri Lanka is just twenty kilometres away. Have you ever wondered how a bridge built using stones can remain afloat without being submerged in the water? This bridge is also called the Rama Setu bridge which is clearly visible on the Google Maps as seen below.

Well the answer lies in a small temple there in the form of porous floating stones which formed the basis of such a bridge construction and is there for us to see, touch and feel for ourselves. Whether you want to believe this or not is another question altogether but it doesn’t harm to check it out and understand isn’t it?

There are also various online forums where this topic is debated. You can find one such forum here.

Quora has some questions and answers on this phenomenon of floating stones. You can check out the information here.

Meanwhile I will leave you with a video of the floating stone at the temple which you can see if you go there. If you were at dhanushkodi and saw these stones then share your opinion on this blog on what you feel about them!