Our rice cooker was out early in the morning, the rice was made mixed with curds, packed and we ready to go. In a few minutes we were down having our breakfast, Made sure that all we had to pack was packed and nothing left behind in the room.
By about 9 AM we were in the car with the luggage loaded and were off, the first stop was to tank up on diesel and check the air and once this was done at a nearby fuel station we were off, heading towards the Eastern expressway, which would take us to Thane and then onto the Mumbai Pune expressway.
The roads as expected were good and fortunately there were no unruly drivers on the road, pleasant driving with good scenery to the left and right and wide roads where one can do good speeds. But watch out, there are some curves that are unexpected and if one is not an experienced driver going very fast on the Mumbai Pune expressway one must be slow and careful. There were signages pointing out that tyre bursts cause fatal accidents, this was because, many years ago soon after the road was thrown open youngsters wanting to experience the thrill of speed would drive at very high speeds on the highway and experience tyre bursts. Many drivers do not read enough about the machines they drive and about safety, many do not even check the tyre pressure regularly, not understanding that it is only the tyre that is in contact with the road. Cars cannot be driven at high speeds when fitted with tyres which are not rated for high speed, More on this at the end of this post.
The experience of a hot cup of tea at a road side eatery can be matched only by a stop at a roadside tea shop for a cup of hot tea. A few hours on the road and we came across a small bye, where we stopped, bought some peanuts, fresh coconut water, tea and we were off, though the idea was to have some misal pav this was not be found here.
Thanks to smart phones, internet and search engines one is never too far from the information that is desired. What we were looking for now is Joshi;s Wadapav which came well recommended and we were told that it was only a few Kms away, yes and we did find the outlet. However, the misalpav was not exactly great but the wadapav was good. What took my time was a small shop selling some products that were unique, a gas stove top grill, milk guard - a porcelain plate with grooves cut which we were ensured would stop milk for boiling over if placed at the bottom of the vessel in which the milk was being boiled, a small plastic gadget which can be used to crush and cut chillies, garlic, ginger etc. Purchases made we were back again on the road.
Further down the road we stopped for our packed lunch of curd rice and pickles and just a little forward was a pump in which we filled up our tank. The pump on the highway was clean and well attended and I was surprised that they were accepting credit cards and the transaction was put through with a handheld card reader (transaction acquiring device).
It was raining in patches never heavy but a drizzle here and a few Kms away another drizzle and then a short duration light rain. We reached Kolhapur with little excitement.
We rested for a short while in the Hotel and were ready to go after a cup of tea. the destination? The Mahalakshmi temple which the city was famous for. Kolhapur was a surprise, well developed and large. Hotels with restaurants that one would expect to see in a large city. Just shows that we do not know enough of the country we live in.
The temple was another surprise waiting for us, one has to enter the temple through gates such as one would enter a fort, then walk through paved surface one comes to the entrance, leave the footwear in counters designated for this and you are in.
No jostling, no one pushing you to buy from them, no large crowds that evening, we were surprised, first was the lack of a crowd and second the very well behaved vendors. We walked through had our darshan said our prayers and were out in a short while.
The statue of the goddess Mahalakshmi is made of gemstone and is considered to be between 5000 and 6000 years old. Weighing about 40 Kgs the precious stones on the deity point out its age.
This temple is worth a visit and if possible during sunlight, the architecture is unique and captivating.
A blog providing information on the temple -
http://indianmandirs.blogspot.in/2013/10/kolhapur-mahalakshmi-eyes-of-sati-devi.html
Outside the temple are stores selling, what else, Kolhapure chappals and who would go away without buying one, most of these shops here are run by Malayalees.
Here is a table from Wikipedia and I would strongly urge everyone who drives a car to read through more on tyre safety and tyre markings
Speed rating
The speed symbol is made up of a single letter or an A with one number. It indicates the maximum speed at which the tire can carry a load corresponding to its Load Index.
| Code | mph | km/h | Code | mph | km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | 3 | 5 | L | 75 | 120 | |
| A2 | 6 | 10 | M | 81 | 130 | |
| A3 | 9 | 15 | N | 87 | 140 | |
| A4 | 12 | 20 | P | 94 | 150 | |
| A5 | 16 | 25 | Q | 100 | 160 | |
| A6 | 19 | 30 | R | 106 | 170 | |
| A7 | 22 | 35 | S | 112 | 180 | |
| A8 | 25 | 40 | T | 118 | 190 | |
| B | 31 | 50 | U | 124 | 200 | |
| C | 37 | 60 | H | 130 | 210 | |
| D | 40 | 65 | V | 149 | 240 | |
| E | 43 | 70 | Z | over 149 | over 240 | |
| F | 50 | 80 | W | 168 | 270 | |
| G | 56 | 90 | (W) | over 168 | over 270 | |
| J | 62 | 100 | Y | 186 | 300 | |
| K | 68 | 110 | (Y) | over 186 | over 300 |
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