Re: A travelogue turned out into a nightmare
Day : 1
It has been a month now that me and Smooth Rider (Dr Rajeev Ram) were planning for a trip to North Eastern States and Bhutan. I wanted to take a road trip to Leh on the way back from Bhutan. And for the final discussions and planning I thought of meeting him in person.
It was on 11th January 2014 at 6 am, we started our trip to Payyangadi (Kerala), the native town of SR. I had booked the accommodation for a night at Gokulam Resorts near Kasargode, and the plan was to return back by 12th evening. Accordingly we had taken our baggage with a pair of extra dresses. The route taken was Mysore – Medikeri – Kasargode. We stopped for breakfast at a restaurant on the way to Mysore around 8 am. We continued the drive and took the Mysore bye pass to Madikeri. The roads were excellent till Madikeri, but I was driving in a relaxed way keeping the speed limit 120 kmph. From Madikeri we took a left turn to Mangalore road thinking that it will be an excellent high way too.
After 20 kms the road condition was worsening progressively due to the lane expansion works. After 50 kms, the car’s power had dropped suddenly and the engine electronics light started glowing. I stopped the vehicle and called up my service advisor at Skoda service center, so initially we were suspecting the turbo and nothing major. He advised me to take the vehicle to a garage and show to a mechanic and get it checked. I called up SR and he spoke to a mechanic, which is again 60 kms away. I drove the vehicle slowly, went to the Resort on the way, checked in and kept the baggage. After freshened up, we proceeded to the workshop and shown to the mechanic, but he couldn't find out the fault.
Meantime, SR also reached there in his Vento. And through his known sources he spoke to the people at Bosch Service center which is after Kannur and 70 kms away. They asked me to bring the vehicle on Monday. And without rectifying the problem I didn't want to take the risk.
I had no other option but to wait till Monday, and I called up the Resort and extended my stay for a day too. We then went to SR’s house, had a discussion with him and his friend Suresh, who was with him during his Leh trip. We started around 10 pm after the dinner from his house, and the resort is 40 kms away.
Before reaching the resort, some 10 kms away, the engine condition became worst, with heavy miss firing. Some how I could manage to drive till the resort.
Hi friends, thank you all for the response and concern.
It was a major breakdown and Skoda service center people helped me a lot, beyond their limits during the distress.
to be continued