Kolhapur is about 380 kilometres from Mumbai — some seven hours by the Expressway to Pune and the highway south through Satara. A day's road, for the Mahalaxmi temple, the families who come home to it, and travellers who like to break the road to Goa here.
I
For darshan
The car waits through the queue at the Mahalaxmi temple, and takes you on to Jyotiba on the hill if you wish. A night in the city, and home rested.
II
For family
A wedding, a festival at home, a visit to parents. The car stays for the days you name, and the sarathi's stay is arranged by the house.
III
On the way to Goa
Kolhapur is the natural halt on the long road south. Stop here for the night and come down to Goa by the Amboli ghat in the morning.
Ten hours, then restA sarathi's day at the wheel ends after about ten hours of driving. A longer road is two days, with a night on the way that the house arranges — or a second driver, written into the figure.
Not between midnight and fiveThe open highway is not driven in the small hours. The house plans the day so the miles fall in daylight and the evening.
Every state, licensedThe car carries a tourist permit for every state it enters, with its papers in the glovebox. Any state's charge at the border is inside the written figure.
One figure, written firstThe car, your sarathi, fuel, every toll, parking, the sarathi's stay and GST — written before you travel. Nothing is added on the road.