Day 8 – Renault India Diamond Trail – Covering the longest distance of our trip
On the very first day of leg two of the India Diamond Trail driving the Renault Kwid, we had to a cover a massive distance of about 850km to reach Bengaluru. With the CEAT pitstop and the handover from leg one having been finished the previous afternoon, we left for Bengaluru early next morning.
We left at 5 am and started the mile crunching at a steady pace. It was pitch dark and we realised how well the Kwid’s headlamps light up the road ahead. The high and the low beams have a great focus and throw a widespread illumination on the road. Even with our shutter bug Sachin taking up ample time shooting the Kwid at scenic places along the Mumbai-Bengaluru AH-47 (AH stands for Asian Highway), we still managed to reach Kolhapur in about three hours. Dodging heavy traffic and overtaking through tricky situations is something the Renault Kwid masters with its peppy engine and agile handling.
More about India Diamond Trail in this link
We are out of Maharashtra for the next 16 days. With most of our crew hailing from Pune, we already felt nostalgic about Maharashtrian food. So, we satiated our famished stomachs with some authentic kanda bhaji, thalipit and poha before crossing into Karnataka. In order to reach Bengaluru on time, we decided to take fewer stops and carried some food in the car as well. Thanks to this, we had already crossed Belgaum by 10am and there on the road network was just fabulous. The well paved four lane highway had proper service roads on each sides and there was adequate greenery as well.
Dharwad, Hubbali, Davangere and Chitradurga were all passed by in a breeze and we entered Bengaluru by 5pm. However, due to the evening rush hour traffic it took us an hour to reach our hotel. Nevertheless, the longest mission is now accomplished thanks to the Kwid, it has all been done in comfort and grace. We’re next headed to Madurai, which is around 430km from Bengaluru.
