Baleno Owner's Club Hyderabad - Koilsagar Camping!

[KSK]

 

 

 

What is this BOCH: This group was created to provide a platform for Baleno owners from Hyderabad to share and seek information about various aspects like sales, service, warranty, insurance, accessories, modifications et al, and also to engage in frequent meet ups. These meets have helped immensely in knowing each other and also to strengthen the bond among group members. We hope to continue to organize these meet-ups as long as we can. Now the group's count is 160 plus members.

 

Prelude:
After the 6th BOCH meet, we decided that we would be taking a long break and no more meetups anytime soon. That was in mid Novermber 2018.  But, as they say, men will be men, and rules are meant to be broken. And so we did exactly that in little over two month's time and completed the 7th meet on January 26, 2019.  And also, 8th meet is not too very far away, planning it in March. So this just goes to show 'the more that you resist the tide, the more it pulls you in'.  It is such an amazing Baleno group with enthusiastic guys who are always ready to meet and explore.

 

Preparation:
Unlike our previous short meets, the 6th meet was a special one where we had spent the whole day in a resort. So the plan for the 7th meet was to stretch it for two days with overnight stay and return the next day.  While looking at options, a member shared the travelogue of India-Drive night camping at Koilsagar (done in 2017). Many members showed interest in this and we immediately put the plan into action. With date decided, I did a quick recce of the place. We calculated per-head cost if we take camp tents for rent and carry food. Everyone volunteered to share responsibilities. But the main concern and challenge was to organize night camping (especially with ladies and families involved) at an unknown lake with a large group. We had our apprehensions about permission, locals and security.  So we contacted India-Drive admins and took all the details of the organizer (Hyderabad Adventure & Trekker's club).  After discussing with HAT's club, they agreed to do our event and it proved to be a wise decision in the end. Though the pricing was a tad high but without them we could have lost and wouldn't have enjoyed the way we did. The package included T3 tents for 2 members, dinner, astronomy session and early morning trekking.  As a complimentary, they agreed to shoot our trip without any additional charge. Thanks to Mr.Dheeraj for wonderful arrangements.

 

Itinerary:

• Reach M Food Court (1st meeting point) located around 75 km from Hyderabad and 13 km after Raikal toll plaza by 2:00 pm.
• Reach Deverakadra and stop for drone shooting.
• Reach Koilsagar and search for camp site and sunset shoot.
• Introduction of members and organizers.
• Pitch tents and campfire.
• Followed by Dinner, BBQ, astronomy session and star gazing.
• At 6:30 am, early morning trekking to nearby hill
• By 9:30 am, return journey to Hyderabad.

 

How Things Went:
The day before the meet, Hyderabad city had plunged into gloominess with not so good weather forecast the next day. We were worried about rain at the venue and it may play spoilsport to the event. To our dismay, it started to downpour on the meetup day as soon as we reached outer ring road. So we thought the trip is going to be a dampner.  Luckily, it stopped raining as we were out of the city though it remained gloomy till 1st meeting point.  All the members reached M Food Court before 2 pm (thanks to all for being punctual), but organizers were nearly 45 min late to arrive. We could only continue our journey from M Food court towards Koilsagar at 3:15 pm as opposed to itinerary time 2:15 pm.

 

Around 4:30 pm, we reached Deverakadra mandal and for about 30-40 min we had drone shooting, line up of Balenos and photo session. We reached camp site at 5:30 and scouted for a nice place to pitch tents and park our big convoy. There were some places already occupied by some others, but we managed to find a decent place. Everything went as planned after that like campfire, BBQ, astronomy session and star gazing, dinner followed by surprise activity with our Balenos, other shoots and of course lots of fun.  Many members were awake till 3 to 5 am (I slept at 3 am) with everlasting discussions.  Luckily, there wasn't a single drop of rain until the next day and we were so relieved for that.

 

Next morning, by the time we completed our trekking to a nearby hill, it was nearly 9:30 am and it started to drizzle. A few members had fun drifting their cars for 10 minutes in those wet conditions, and finally we bid adieu to Koilsagar - what was a memorable trip!

 

What We (and I) Missed:

• We could not shoot with drone at camp site because of low light.
• Forgot to take group pics though we had some pics taken during introductory session.
• I could not take my Baleno to the trip as our colony road dug up for laying new drainage pipes.?

 

I let the pictures speak the rest:

 

Dark clouds looming overhead with rain:

 

Line up of Balenos at M Food Court attracted quite a few eyes:

 

Stopped at this straight scenic road of Deverakadra for drone shoot:

 

Classic line up shot using selfie stick:

 

Balenos parked Balenos in an arc at camp site:

Meanwhile, kids were having their own fun time:

 

Something you don't often find in cities:

 

 

Priceless expression:

 

Kids with kids ☺️:

 

Aesthetic Sunset:

 

A Baleno soaking in the sun:

 

Sublime Safari (a member came in this as their count was more than 6):

 

Another member came in his new Ignis (he's got Baleno and S-Cross too) ?:

 

Behold the beauty of the sunset:

 

In the lap of beautiful nature:

 

Introductory and Interactive session:

 

Beautiful sight with camps in light:

 

Astronomy session and star gazing:

 

Half moon and its beauty, captured using 600 mm lens:

 

With chilling weather outside, campfire warmth was comforting:

 

BOCH members sans family and friends:

 

Intriguing photoshoot of Baleno headlights:

 

Woke up to this gorgeous view:

 

Hill that was trekked:

 

That conquered feeling:

 

Picture-perfect picture of the campsite:

 

Majestic view of Koilsagar:

 

An enthusiast's drifting:

 

The little one with its elder sibling:

 

One final line-up shot:

 

Final group pic of members before parting ways:

 

Being a part of this wonderful BOCH group and leading it was quite a learning experience for me.  Needless to mention, it enabled me to meet other Baleno owners and avid car lovers from different walks of life. I hope our bond becomes even more stronger as we grow bigger as a group, and embark on many more journeys.

Hope you liked this short travelogue. Keep traveling and happy motoring!

Edited February 3, 2019 by KSK

[Revanth]

It was really a great experience being a part of the meet. Never expected it would go this fabulous.Its like a lifetime memory for me. As I love travelling alot this would be added to my one the best visited tourist location ?❤️..!!

#revanth_redde.

[mit1682]

Awesome @ksk. Really it was a memorable trip. Got inspired by india-drive. I think i will take credit of taking reference from india-drive? and suggesting BOCH to have this trip. Well planned, perfectly executed. And hard work of core BOCH team added test. Wish to have many more trip in future. 

[Guest peednaS]

Wonderful writeup Satish.

Happy to be part of this group. And this 7th meet is indeed a memorable one for me. And eagerly waiting for the next meet which is under discussion. Let's be busy in that.. ?

[KSK]

13 minutes ago, mit1682 said:

Awesome @ksk. Really it was a memorable trip. Got inspired by india-drive. I think i will take credit of taking reference from india-drive? and suggesting BOCH to have this trip. Well planned, perfectly executed. And hard work of core BOCH team added test. Wish to have many more trip in future. 

 

Sorry @mit1682 for not mentioning your name. Yes, it was a memorable trip. Thanks to @Ranger and @sagar for all the inputs and details.

 

19 minutes ago, Revanth said:

It was really a great experience being a part of the meet. Never expected it would go this fabulous.Its like a lifetime memory for me. As I love travelling alot this would be added to my one the best visited tourist location ?❤️..!!

#revanth_redde.

 

@Revanth Thank you! ☺️

[Revanth]

Always welcome ? bro . It's my pleasure being a part of the meet and as well as the Core team ??.

[prabhum]

Missed this trip as i choose to be part of India-Drive road trip. Excellent pictures satish. 

[KSK]

28 minutes ago, prabhum said:

Missed this trip as i choose to be part of India-Drive road trip. Excellent pictures satish. 

 

Thank you @prabhum. I think you had a great time camping at Gandikota as well.  Hope to see you in our next meetup or catch me at next India-Drive trip.

Edited February 3, 2019 by KSK

[PraveenReddy]

Super

[sagar]

15 hours ago, KSK said:

 

Hope you liked this short travelogue. Keep traveling and happy motoring!

 

Brilliant post @KSK. It was a breeze going through your full log which was accompanied by fantastic pictures and details. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time as the pictures look so eventful. @prabhum I think you shouldn't be missing their next drive meet.   What was the total count of Balenos which turned up for the drive meet? Keep it going and cheers for all the good work. Happy motoring  

[Gowtham]

Fantastic pictures, very neatly executed.

You guys have refreshed our Koilsagar memories. 

 

Loved reach and every bit of the report. 

Hope to see more drives from your end. 

 

Sharing it on the home page. 

[uday]

Wow,
Good to see Hyderabad car meets are catching up.
You guys did it very well.

Weather looks fantastic. 
Dheeraj is the go to guy for such meetups. 
He being part of India-Drive helped us a lot. 

 

Pictures came out very good. 

[KSK]

17 hours ago, Guest peednaS said:

Wonderful writeup Satish.

Happy to be part of this group. And this 7th meet is indeed a memorable one for me. And eagerly waiting for the next meet which is under discussion. Let's be busy in that.. ?

 

Thank you ☺️

 

1 hour ago, uday said:

Wow,
Good to see Hyderabad car meets are catching up.
You guys did it very well.

Weather looks fantastic. 
Dheeraj is the go to guy for such meetups. 
He being part of India-Drive helped us a lot. 

 

Pictures came out very good. 

 

@uday Thanks much for appreciation. Yes indeed Dheeraj was savior.

 

1 hour ago, Ranger said:

Fantastic pictures, very neatly executed.

You guys have refreshed our Koilsagar memories. 

 

Loved reach and every bit of the report. 

Hope to see more drives from your end. 

 

Sharing it on the home page. 

 

Thank you very much @Ranger. It was an inspired by ID trip only.  Thanks for all the guidance. Happy to be part of India-Drive, and hope to meet you guys in next meetup.

 

2 hours ago, sagar said:

 

Brilliant post @KSK. It was a breeze going through your full log which was accompanied by fantastic pictures and details. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time as the pictures look so eventful. @prabhum I think you shouldn't be missing their next drive meet.   What was the total count of Balenos which turned up for the drive meet? Keep it going and cheers for all the good work. Happy motoring  

 

Thank you very much @sagar. Total strength was 45 people including children and excluding organizers. 17 Balenos made it in the end though 3 came late, with one Safari and one Ignis.

[sagar]

1 hour ago, KSK said:

 

Total strength was 45 people including children and excluding organizers. 17 Balenos made it in the end though 3 came late, with one Safari and one Ignis.

 

That's a great mark to begin with. And I'm quite amazed to know that this is your 6th drive meet. Where have you guys been to during your earlier drive meets ?

[KSK]

1 hour ago, sagar said:

 

That's a great mark to begin with. And I'm quite amazed to know that this is your 6th drive meet. Where have you guys been to during your earlier drive meets ?

 

Correction @sagar: This was the 7th one.

 

Sharing some pics of our previous meetups:

 

1st meetup @Gandipet:

 

 

2nd meetup @Movie Towers, Kokapet:

 

 

3rd meetup @Manasa Hills:

 

 

 

4th meetup @Ananthagiri hills:

 

 

 

5th @The Street Sports Arena, Madhapur:

 

 

And the 6th one @Dreamvalley Resorts:

 

 

[sagar]

18 hours ago, KSK said:

 

Correction @sagar: This was the 7th one.

 

Great going guys, We wish to see more of such drive meets from your crew. Glad to see the road trip culture grow in the Hyderabad chapter  

[Pralay]

@KSK.. Wonderful pictures & excellent content mate! Really great work there, more than that lovely to see happy faces with such wonderful snaps of cars!! Thanks for sharing  

[KSK]

6 hours ago, Pralay said:

@KSK.. Wonderful pictures & excellent content mate! Really great work there, more than that lovely to see happy faces with such wonderful snaps of cars!! Thanks for sharing  

Thank you very much @Pralay ☺️

[sagar]

@mit1682 and @KSK Waiting for your recent drive meet details at Chirala.. Please do share  

[KSK]

11 hours ago, sagar said:

@mit1682 and @KSK Waiting for your recent drive meet details at Chirala.. Please do share  

 

@sagar, sure will complete it in a couple of days.

[sagar]

8 hours ago, KSK said:

 

@sagar, sure will complete it in a couple of days.

 

No worries.. Please do take your time. We are all excited to see the drive meet post which could be as good as this one