Disasterous Trip of my life- KSRTC Airavat/Club Class, Mangalore-Bangalore

High Expectations awaited on this return leg of my trip- The morning service of KSRTC Airavat to Bangalore from Mangalore. Had specifically booked this trip for the superb driving skills by the Mangalore Depot-2 crew! But Fate had different plans for me on this trip.

The bus was supposed to start at 9 am, but for unknown reasons, the bus started only at 09.50am.
The Actual bus broke down at the depot, and a replacement was sent , which arrived at 09.40am, picked up passengers and departed at 09.50am.

The bus was driven in trademark Mlore-2 Style, and was all perfect, The driver occasionally hitting 95 km/h mark and was trying to cover up for the lost ground.

We stopped for a tea break after Uppinangdi and left. All was perfect till we entered the Charmadi Ghat, where the bus broke down in the exact middle of it,at around 12 noon,leaving all the passengers high and dry. There was no cellular network available at the spot, so the crew had to take a lift and call for help after crossing the ghat.

 Meanwhile, the passengers were being shifted to Airavat/ACC/Rajahamsa services whichever passed by. A Airavat Club class working the 10am schedule from Mlore  and the Rajahamsa that arrived after that made sure  3/4th of the passengers were shifted. We Waited for the next bus, and Voila, KA57F 811, Airavat Club Class aka, auto club class,working Mlore-Blore-Tirupati arrived and we were shifted. All Happy, I boarded the bus and got a Window seat! This was the real Ordeal of my journey which started.The Charging point wasn't working and the TV was Switched off. the bus was driven sedately till the narrow roads ended. He entered the Sakleshpura and Hassan Stands and Filled the bus up with passengers here.

The bus was driven very very slowly, hitting occasional speeds of 70 km/hr., remaining at 65-68 km/hr.This was the heights of driving, and apart from autos, everyone overtook us, sometimes few loaded trucks too overtook us.

Crawling and limping, I reached Bangalore at 07.30pm at Yeshwantpura, Where i decided, KSRTC shall never be my choice for any trip, any destination, no matter what. If this is how they drive and treat their buses, they better buy second hand 12m Buses, Fit AC on them and operate, Coz they aren`t even worthy to keep new 12m Buses if this is how they intend to operate.
God Save KSRTC. You are really a pathetic, disgusting  and a sick third class service provider. Why buy MultiAxles when you intend to drive them like autorickshaws and price them sky high? Shame on you!
Bye Bye.

Mangalore Delights- Sugama Tourists` Volvo MultiAxle Review!

It was a long awaited desire to travel in the simple yet gorgeous looking Sugama Tourists Multi axle Volvo, and it was finally fulfilled a few days back!
Booked the Third last row seats (weekend made sure i was denied front end seats), and eagerly awaited for the D Day!

Friday the 12th, The D Day! 
 Reached Vijaynagar at around 09.15 pm, well before the actual time of pick up at 10.15pm. As I Waited, saw a plethora of Non AC Coaches towards Mangalore, Manipal, Udupi, Kokkarne, Shringeri, etc etc. Finally, We were put on a sleeper coach which dropped us at Navrang Circle office of Sugama around 10.30pm, and the bus was supposed to arrive at 10.45pm.
This was one thing that wasn't worth appreciating, The passengers were made to stand along the service road and sit outside the office, which isn't appreciable. The least that they could do was provide chairs! The "Pick-up" Bus was any passing bus of sugama which could drop us at Navrang. This, again wasn't worth noting,

We Reached Navrang Circle Office at exactly 10.30 pm. the bus was supposed to arrive at 10.45pm, but only arrived at 11.40pm due to unknown reasons. Even the durgamba volvos passed us at around 11.15 pm that day. All said, I Rushed to my seat and made myself comfortable, The bus was neatly kept, had 399,200km on its odometer and was top notch condition in the terms of comfort, However, the upholstery needed a real cleaning to be done though.

As the bus moved out from the city, i slumped into a deep sleep after a long and a tiring day!, and woke up near CR Patna at around 2:06 am when he stopped for a tea break. Quickly hopped off, clicked the beauty, and eagerly waited for the real journey to start. The bus was a real delight, the engine growling at overtakes, the curves were taken beautifully without making anyone uncomfortable, and was handled like a dream,as if the driver and the bus were in complete sync! Full Marks to the crew! In the ghats, the bus pulled away with ease, and the engine was in its best! the growls were so perfect, that i wished the journey was long enough to enjoy the machine and its crew were just awesome behind the wheels.

I again slept off after the ghats and woke up when we were at Hampankatta. Realizing i had to alight, quickly grabbed my stuff and got down at PVS Circle at Sharp 6 am!
It is always a delight when you arrive on dot timing and this drive in particular made sure i never forget the journey ever again! Sugama Tourists, Hats Off to you! I shall look forward to our next meet!
:)