Honda BR-V Travelogue – Trip To Uttarakhand

Honda BR-V Travelogue

Total Kms: 1713 kms
Fuel Consumed: 109.1-liters
Overall Mileage: 15.7 km/l

Traveling, exploring, visiting different places is a drug of choice, an addiction which leads to inner peace

Uttarakhand is referred as Devbhumi due to the number of Hindu temples and pilgrimage centres found throughout the state. The 13 districts of Uttarakhand are so vivid that every district has a different landscape and a completely new experience. The trip to Uttarakhand was planned because one of my colleagues always praised about the beauty of the mountain ranges, he showed us the various pictures of the place. This time he was getting married there and it was nothing but a reason to go and visit Devbhumi. Based in Mumbai, we flew down to Delhi and got ourselves the Honda BR-V as our travelogue companion.

The moment I got the car it was spick, clean and bright white. I knew the car was a 7-seater MPV so I did not expect it to have a good boot space and just dumped the suitcases in the third row and we got moving. We dropped the person who handed over the car to us and started our journey towards Dehradun, our first destination. It was a 300 kms drive and I was told to be aware of the traffic until I reach Dehradun. The roads post Ghaziabad opened up and the Honda BR-V would cruise nicely at 80 km/hr. While crossing Meerut, it was lunch time and we stopped to grab a bite. The suitcases in the third-row were dancing here and there so I decided to move at least one bag to the boot. To my surprise, the boot was huge enough to fit both our suitcases.

The roads were really good until we reached the Uttarakhand border. They narrowed to two lanes and our pace reduced drastically. We were almost reaching Dehradun and we hit our first set of twisties and I wanted to know the car in and out. I pushed a little and could feel the BR-V sticking to the road and handling like a gem. But, the slight extra weight and just 100 BHP on the pedal felt the vehicle to be slower while taking on the inclines of the so called ‘Pahadi’ roads. I knew there were hundreds of kms of twisties awaiting us as we reached our first stop at Dehradun. The colleague’s family was staying there and gave us a room for the night.

The second day was pretty much sorted as my colleague’s father had made us a route plan so that we could enjoy some parts of Uttarakhand while we reach for the wedding too. Day 2 destination was Srinagar via Mussoorie, Dhanolti and Tehri. As we left Dehradun early morning, there were clear signs for the roads leading to various places. Once you have crossed an intersection, there are no splits as such for a minimum of 50 kms. We started the climb for Mussorie and the mountain ranges started coming along. I enjoyed two things while driving here, the twisties and the scenery. Every corner there is a backdrop but only few chances that you can stop and enjoy the mesmerising view. We drove all the way to Mussoorie with just a single break and the Honda BR-V didn’t break a sweat.

A bit of sightseeing in and around Mussoorie, we also visited Kampty falls for a cold water bath and headed towards Dhanolti. The quality of the roads degraded a bit. At one point, the Honda BR-V was under-steering in the corners and we had to lower the pace. The road to Srinagar goes via Dhanolti and Tehri, while most of the time the Mussorie-Dhanolti-Tehri stretch is filled with snow, it was clear for us yet we could see patches of ice lying around. It was the weight of the Honda BR-V and grip from the Pirelli rubber that made it stick and we got through Dhanolti safely. As Dhanolti is a high ground area, we could spot a few ice-tops of the Himalayas from the road. We got down and passed the new Tehri Dam. This place has history as the old dam and the Tehri city was swept away in the Uttarakhand floods.