Planning 'Thane to Amravati (Maharashtra) Road Trip.

[dev_kudle]

Hello Seniors,

First of all let me thank you for your guidence on my 'Esteem Coolant Leakage' issue.

I have learnt so many important things with our TBHP. Even my 2 year old son (Param) recognizes TBHP sticker.

Gurus, I'm planning a road trip from Thane-To-Amravati (Maharashtra) this October'09.
I'm aware of the probable road from Thane -Amravati (which is 150 Km from Nagpur). But, my main concerns are:

1. How will I be able to know the exact path which I have to take whenever I enter any city. (I don't have detailed maps).
2. The approx distance between Thane - Amravati - 674 KMs. Will I be able to cover it up in single day. (P.S. I have only 2000 KMs experience and never travelled 650KMs in a stretch).
3. How are the road conditions. What about 'Kasaara Ghat' which I wll be encountering??
4. And, finally, please guide me with the city roots (ex: Thane---Kalyaan----Nashik----etc).

Gurus, I will be travelling with my family (Me, My wife and My 2 year old Son) and I have Esteem 2001 VX model.

My whole family will be awaiting your responses on this and will be planning out trip accordingly.


Regards,
Dev_Kudle

[dev_kudle]

Hi All,

I'm still awaiting some guiding words from you guys.
Please shed some light on my queries. 3 week of Oct is nt far from today

Regards,

Dev_Kudle

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by dev_kudle

Hello Seniors,

First of all let me thank you for your guidence on my 'Esteem Coolant Leakage' issue.

I have learnt so many important things with our TBHP. Even my 2 year old son (Param) recognizes TBHP sticker.

Gurus, I'm planning a road trip from Thane-To-Amravati (Maharashtra) this October'09.
I'm aware of the probable road from Thane -Amravati (which is 150 Km from Nagpur). But, my main concerns are:

1. How will I be able to know the exact path which I have to take whenever I enter any city. (I don't have detailed maps).

>>
2. The approx distance between Thane - Amravati - 674 KMs. Will I be able to cover it up in single day. (P.S. I have only 2000 KMs experience and never travelled 650KMs in a stretch).

>>

3. How are the road conditions. What about 'Kasaara Ghat' which I wll be encountering??



4. And, finally, please guide me with the city roots (ex: Thane---Kalyaan-
---Nashik----etc).

Gurus, I will be travelling with my family (Me, My wife and My 2 year old Son) and I have Esteem 2001 VX model.

My whole family will be awaiting your responses on this and will be planning out trip accordingly.


Regards,
Dev_Kudle

The best way is to ask for the route to the next town as & when you enter a town.If you ask for your destination,there is a probability that if multiple routes exist to the destination,you might be directed to a less travelled one or a longer one or a potholed one,so always ask for the next town on your route.

670 kilometers can be easily covered.Do an early morning start.Preferably leave early to escape city traffic.Earlier the better.330am-4am starts are always good as you would be able to do good speeds and escape city jams before normal day time traffic hits the roads.

Kasara Ghat is in excellent shape.Nothing to worry about.The new section on the ghat has been opened now.This would mean that the roads are 2 laned in each direction.You would climb up the ghat through one section and the return journey would be through a different section of the ghat.You might have fog and low visibility conditions after the ghat especially at Igatpuri and it always drizzles around that area.


Its one straight road.Thane-Nasik,use the NH3(the Mumbai Agra Road) till Malegaon.Its 4 laned all the way,so no worries about oncoming traffic except on railway overbridges where the roads are still single laned.Thane-Nasik can be covered in around 2 hours,it is a distance of around 150kms.You dont need to enter Kalyan.

Thane-Nasik-Malegaon-Dhule-Jalgaon-Akola-Amravati.This would be the best route,unless somebody else has a better option.So wait for some more updates.This would be best as you have the NH-3 & NH6 option and both are in good shape.NH3 till Dhule and NH6 from Dhule to Amravati.

[dev_kudle]

Thank you so much "Ranjitp1" for your reply

I will keep eveything you suggested in my mind during my trip to Amravati.

However, do you thing leaving at around 3:30 AM is advisable, as during this time trucks/louries can be a menace. I was planning to start at around 5 AM.

Regards,
Dev_Kudle

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by dev_kudle

Thank you so much "Ranjitp1" for your reply

I will keep eveything you suggested in my mind during my trip to Amravati.

However, do you thing leaving at around 3:30 AM is advisable, as during this time trucks/louries can be a menace. I was planning to start at around 5 AM.

Regards,
Dev_Kudle

WC.5am is fine as well,you would know better what time is best to avoid traffic

[deutscheafrikar]

Dev,
Be extra cautious on the Thane Nasik road, specially in the wee hours of the morning. There will be lots of Tempos speeding to Bombay city. Why don't you get yourself some maps. MapMyIndia has the mireo Via GPS 3.0 PC edition is good to get.
otherwise try MapmyIndia - maps, directions, and local search across India - just search, print and go!

[dev_kudle]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

Dev,
Be extra cautious on the Thane Nasik road, specially in the wee hours of the morning. There will be lots of Tempos speeding to Bombay city. Why don't you get yourself some maps. MapMyIndia has the mireo Via GPS 3.0 PC edition is good to get.
otherwise try MapmyIndia - maps, directions, and local search across India - just search, print and go!

Thanks for your response senior .

I'm already cautious about the early morning scene and moreover this will be my first long trip with my family (670 KM). I will remain calm and cautious while driving as after 4 days w are coming back to Mumbai.

Regards,
Dev_Kudle

[hvkumar]

H V Kumar - Driving Log Books - KUMAR'S DRIVING LOG BOOKSNorth East India, Bhutan & East-West Drive Apr 2009

Check out the above link, the initial part has the route details for Thane-Amaravati via Nasik, Dhulia and Akola.

Alternative route is via Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.

I would prefer the NH3-NH6 route via Nasik since there are several sections of 4-lane road on this section.

You can do the drive morning to evening, starting at 3-4 am as you have suggested, and the initial section upto Nasik is 4-lane road anyway.

Food facilities are poor.

[dev_kudle]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

H V Kumar - Driving Log Books - KUMAR'S DRIVING LOG BOOKSNorth East India, Bhutan & East-West Drive Apr 2009

Check out the above link, the initial part has the route details for Thane-Amaravati via Nasik, Dhulia and Akola.

Alternative route is via Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.

I would prefer the NH3-NH6 route via Nasik since there are several sections of 4-lane road on this section.

You can do the drive morning to evening, starting at 3-4 am as you have suggested, and the initial section upto Nasik is 4-lane road anyway.

Food facilities are poor.

Dear Senior,

This is awesome. The detailed logs are very-very systematic .
Now I'm confident enough to go ahead with this trip. I wll try to keep the travel-logs just like you and will post it once I return back to Thane (Mumbai).

Really TBHP rocks and I'm a proud to be a part of TBHP.

Regards,

Dev_Kudle

[WDM007]

Hi,

Are you back from Amravati?
Eagerly waiting for your travelogue.

[dev_kudle]

Hello Seniors,
My 'Thane-Amravati-Thane' trip was successfully completed on 1St Nov 2009.
Returned back to Thane on 1st Nov 2009.
Total KM travelled = 1500 KM.
Awesome experience.
H.V. KUmar's logs helped a lot. His details were very accurate.
My Esteem's performance was also awesome. Not a single breakdown or puncture.
I will be posting the pics in few days (I don't know, whether I will be allowed to post pics here or not). But, I will try.
Guys, it was my first long trip and I swear, I will never travel by train or bus again.
Had too many experiences with this single trip. Mostly good experiences, few bad ones with truck and lorries. As suggested by TBHPians and as per old threads, I never took any risks, never pushed myself or my car over the limit. Followed each and every details cautiously and here I'm a 'Happy Man' with happy wife n kid. LOL.
My overall trip experience was safe, smooth and satisfying. Thanks to TBHP.
I will be posting my travel-logs soon with every detail and supporting pics.
Thanks again
Regards,
Dev_Kudle

[dev_kudle]

Hello Seniors,

Here are few pics of my 'Thane-Amravati-Thane' trip.
I will be posting pics in 2 installements.
Moreover, the pics are not that detailed, as you can understand that, it's not easy to click in presence of a 2 year old kid

Regards,
Dev_kudle

[dev_kudle]

Hi Again,

Here's 2nd set of pics.

Please post your reviews

Awaiting responses.

Regards,
Dev_Kudle

[deutscheafrikar]

Dev
thanks for the photos of the NH3 and NH6. I had previously travelled many a time to Nasik on the old road which was without the dividing median. I had not realised that it was so good now. It was so dangerous at that time. Glad you had a good and safe journey back
Regards