Hyderabad-Pune-Hyderabad in Red Cutie [Part 1] - Team-BHP

sforsarang · 29th July 2007, 14:50

Team,

First of all, thanks for the valuable inputs given for night driving and road conditions. Finally with a bit of compromise and setting a tradeoff between passion and safety, I made it. Here we go.

Me and some of my friends from my organization (MS) planned to visit Pune last weekend just for fun (here the term fun stands for 'long drive to Pune). We were all on the same page as for how to go, where to stay, what to do and when to come back. We wanted more people to join us so that we can take more vehicles and rally up and have good drive throughout. Initially we were 6 and at the eleventh hour, 3 more guys joined us on the journey.

The plan was to get two vehicles on road, one was my friend's Safari DICOR and another was my own red cutie (as usual raring to go..vvrooom), but due to lesser travellers we initially planned for Safari only, and After 3 more joining us, I had to take a break from office and get my vehicle fueled up, checked up for the long tour and cleaned up. We decided to gather at the MS campus at sharp 4 PM Friday and to leave for Pune from there only. All had carried their luggage with them while coming to the office and so were ready to depart.

We started at 4.15 PM from Gachibowli and took the BHEL road from lingampalli to Pune. 5 people were in SAfari and 4 were in red cutie and both the vehicles were following each other and closing in all the time. The weather was pleasant and neither it was raining nor were any signs of clouds. We were apprehensive about the incoming traffic for some distance as it takes a lot of time to cross the Hyderabad city borders especially Patancheru and we somehow managed to get out of Hyderabad boundaries at around 5.30 PM. After that it was an altogether different experience. The roads were broad, neat and nicely built, with good amount of banking wherever required and steady,not so sharp turns.The plan was to shift the driving every 150 kms and as I was suffering from a bit of fever and weakness, I decided to drive till it gets dark, and then hand over the control to other much experienced drivers in my car (frankly speaking, I was not much confident about my physical condition and vary of night driving in fever and all :( ). I drove till Zaheerabad and then decided to step down to the seat next to driving seat. At 6.30 we were out of Zaheerabad. Took a short break of 10 minutes as Safari was waiting for us and started again. Plan was to reach Solapur and have meals there. We were consistently touching 90 to 100 kmph and following each other closely. Incoming Traffic was not much and there were no cattles, or minor traffic as scooters, cycles and all, also not to mention the beautiful roads. They are least damaged by rains as compared to the roads in Maharashtra.

At around 9.30 we reached Solapur and stopped at a restaurent for dinner. It took almost one and half hour (much more than expected) to finish eating meals and resuming the journey. We were all frustrated but had no options. Started at 11 PM from Solapur, driver changed and then, Oh god...this was the real pain. Bad roads were seen much frequently, Incoming traffic suddenly rose at an alarming rate, more and more and more heavy vehicles approaching, lot much 'accident prone zones' to scare us, ghat sections with full dark and almost no indicators. The real game began. We were cruising at 100 kmph with 70 to 80 kmph average speed though the road was not so good as compared to AP roads. There were few sharp turns and one has to be really careful and not to be too overconfident and defensive driving is the key. Night driving is really, I would not say Pain, but a tidious task considering the amount of tension driver has to be in, and facing high beam constantly, rash truckers, and not so disciplines Volvos... Husshhhhh..... There were 2 jams during our journey from Solapur to Pune and we stuck there for almost an hour collectively. Let me tell you, these jams happen only because of careless attitude of the drivers and egoistic nature. Just a very minor accident, small dent on State transport bus and they start cribbing and take the other vehicles for granted in the middle of the road. Suddenly we could see lot many Volvo's coming across and there was a steep rise in the number of heavy vehicles upcoming...it was a real fun, thrill, pain whatever...driving past through them..and let me tell you, unlike common conception, Wagon R doesn't shake while being overtaken by a Volvo..not at all..One funny thing was, there was a worn out overbridge on some river on the way and it had a notice "Heavy vehicles are not allowed. Brigde is worn out and not capable of .....so and so"...but we could see no alternate road for this bridge, and all heavy vehilces were on the same bridge at the same moment... .scary enough.. At last, around 3 AM in the night we reached Pune outskirts. To our merry, it was drizzling slightly and the weather was too good. I dropped other persons at their homes and got back to mine at 4 AM. Somehow I felt so much relaxed and my fever and fatigue was lot, m not sure whether its due to the long drive or the car lag

during the journey, red cutie didnt disappoint me at any juncture. It was so much stable and calm throughout. having 4 people seated makes a huge difference. There were no shaky turns, swift braking ( I remember it got down to 10 kmph from 100 kmph in a very short timespan once without skidding or shaking), we took few sharp turns at 70- 80 kmph without fishtailing or even without tyres chirping sounds. I heard a lot about Wagon R's being a tall boy and shaky nature on highways but it was altogether a different experience. I was very much secure inside it and never for a moment it lost grip on roads. While on highways, it is utmost important to love your vehicle, have faith in your machine and your luck, and passion for driving. God saves you from all the undesired events

I hope haven't bored you too much. Just to avoid overdose, planning to post the more adventurous journey from Pune to Hyderabad (return) in Red cutie a bit later today or tomorrow. Adventurous in the sense that it was being accomplished by a newbie driver alone driving 600 kms consistently with only 1 or 2 short breaks...and much more adventures on road

will keep you posted.

akroy · 29th July 2007, 15:31

What is a travelogue without pics???? Put them on fast,.....

Abhi

Sam Kapasi · 29th July 2007, 15:35

Hi there. A very interesting travelogue sarang. Thanks. But I'm going to agree with akroy and say

sforsarang · 29th July 2007, 15:42

Ahhhh..... I am so sorry guys but let me put an excuse that I was not feeling well while going and moreover it was a night drive so didnt focus much on clicking snaps (also there was nothing to click snaps of on roads). Yeah I did some photography in Pune but that's not part of travelogue. While coming back I was driving alone and my only intention was to get home safely so didn't stop and click snaps.

But guys, hold on.. my Kashmir travelogue is on its way with lots of pics...

...and you will definitely forgive me for not clicking the pics on Pune trip once you see the Kashmir snaps... next onwards will keep posting pics too while posting travelogue...

Zappo · 29th July 2007, 16:06

Hmmm... sforsarang, Travelogues are immensely popular in Team BHP. Anyone who has been here for sometime has been bitten by the travel bug. Driving through valleys, ravines and flat highways has a charm of its own. However as you would have now realized these guys won't relent unless you post pics.

By the way, why is this thread called blah blah [Part 1]? I thought you will add pics of it in Part 2...

spadival · 30th July 2007, 10:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by sforsarang

The weather was pleasant and neither it was raining nor were any signs of clouds. We were apprehensive about the incoming traffic for some distance as it takes a lot of time to cross the Hyderabad city borders especially Patancheru and we somehow managed to get out of Hyderabad boundaries at around 5.30 PM.

Seriously, the road out of Hyd towards Pune is hell and really tests the driver's patience. God knows how long they will take to repair this stretch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sforsarang

Started at 11 PM from Solapur, driver changed and then, Oh god...this was the real pain. Bad roads were seen much frequently, Incoming traffic suddenly rose at an alarming rate, more and more and more heavy vehicles approaching, lot much 'accident prone zones' to scare us, ghat sections with full dark and almost no indicators.

This is the tragedy of this route.. there are too many slow vehicles trying to overtake each other on a single carriageway. Otherwise the route is really scenic.. especially in monsoon. But which section do you consider as "ghat section" ???

mobike008 · 1st August 2007, 11:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by spadival

But which section do you consider as "ghat section" ???

Except for a steep climb into a road between 2 mountains around 100+ kms from Hyd going towards pune/mumbai and after that the road goes down and banks towards right and this road lasts for about 3-4km, thats it. i would certainely not call that a ghat section at all

speedmiester · 1st August 2007, 16:21

So u finally did the night driving. Its good to hear that everything went well. But as you said and everyone here agrees with it, night driving is a pain and is more stressful than day driving.

Have done a couple of full night drives myself but if you plan it carefully its a pleasure. One advantage of night driving is no pesky two wheelers and people on road.

pjay_in · 7th August 2007, 14:17

Nice report, sforsarang. I drive a Wagon R too, and agree with you that is is a fine car whether you are driving in the city or on highways.

Talking about pics, can someone tell me why it is necessary to mask our number plates? I have done it myself taking a cue from others, but not sure why.

mobike008 · 7th August 2007, 20:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjay_in

Talking about pics, can someone tell me why it is necessary to mask our number plates? I have done it myself taking a cue from others, but not sure why.

If you dont have any hassles, there is no neccessity to mask number plates for your own vehicles and if you have persmission of some other owners vehicle, then for that as well, no problem.

It's simply for the reason that such things invades people's privacy ( though i reckon it means more for celebrities, but we aren't that are we??

)

WhiteKnight · 8th August 2007, 10:06

May be your car is very famous, but I haven't acquainted with it. What is "red cutie"???

Quote:

unlike common conception, Wagon R doesn't shake while being overtaken by a Volvo..

Eureka....

29th July 2007, 14:50	#1 (permalink)
sforsarang Newbie Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 22	Hyderabad-Pune-Hyderabad in Red Cutie [Part 1] Team, First of all, thanks for the valuable inputs given for night driving and road conditions. Finally with a bit of compromise and setting a tradeoff between passion and safety, I made it. Here we go. Me and some of my friends from my organization (MS) planned to visit Pune last weekend just for fun (here the term fun stands for 'long drive to Pune). We were all on the same page as for how to go, where to stay, what to do and when to come back. We wanted more people to join us so that we can take more vehicles and rally up and have good drive throughout. Initially we were 6 and at the eleventh hour, 3 more guys joined us on the journey. The plan was to get two vehicles on road, one was my friend's Safari DICOR and another was my own red cutie (as usual raring to go..vvrooom), but due to lesser travellers we initially planned for Safari only, and After 3 more joining us, I had to take a break from office and get my vehicle fueled up, checked up for the long tour and cleaned up. We decided to gather at the MS campus at sharp 4 PM Friday and to leave for Pune from there only. All had carried their luggage with them while coming to the office and so were ready to depart. We started at 4.15 PM from Gachibowli and took the BHEL road from lingampalli to Pune. 5 people were in SAfari and 4 were in red cutie and both the vehicles were following each other and closing in all the time. The weather was pleasant and neither it was raining nor were any signs of clouds. We were apprehensive about the incoming traffic for some distance as it takes a lot of time to cross the Hyderabad city borders especially Patancheru and we somehow managed to get out of Hyderabad boundaries at around 5.30 PM. After that it was an altogether different experience. The roads were broad, neat and nicely built, with good amount of banking wherever required and steady,not so sharp turns.The plan was to shift the driving every 150 kms and as I was suffering from a bit of fever and weakness, I decided to drive till it gets dark, and then hand over the control to other much experienced drivers in my car (frankly speaking, I was not much confident about my physical condition and vary of night driving in fever and all :( ). I drove till Zaheerabad and then decided to step down to the seat next to driving seat. At 6.30 we were out of Zaheerabad. Took a short break of 10 minutes as Safari was waiting for us and started again. Plan was to reach Solapur and have meals there. We were consistently touching 90 to 100 kmph and following each other closely. Incoming Traffic was not much and there were no cattles, or minor traffic as scooters, cycles and all, also not to mention the beautiful roads. They are least damaged by rains as compared to the roads in Maharashtra. At around 9.30 we reached Solapur and stopped at a restaurent for dinner. It took almost one and half hour (much more than expected) to finish eating meals and resuming the journey. We were all frustrated but had no options. Started at 11 PM from Solapur, driver changed and then, Oh god...this was the real pain. Bad roads were seen much frequently, Incoming traffic suddenly rose at an alarming rate, more and more and more heavy vehicles approaching, lot much 'accident prone zones' to scare us, ghat sections with full dark and almost no indicators. The real game began. We were cruising at 100 kmph with 70 to 80 kmph average speed though the road was not so good as compared to AP roads. There were few sharp turns and one has to be really careful and not to be too overconfident and defensive driving is the key. Night driving is really, I would not say Pain, but a tidious task considering the amount of tension driver has to be in, and facing high beam constantly, rash truckers, and not so disciplines Volvos... Husshhhhh..... There were 2 jams during our journey from Solapur to Pune and we stuck there for almost an hour collectively. Let me tell you, these jams happen only because of careless attitude of the drivers and egoistic nature. Just a very minor accident, small dent on State transport bus and they start cribbing and take the other vehicles for granted in the middle of the road. Suddenly we could see lot many Volvo's coming across and there was a steep rise in the number of heavy vehicles upcoming...it was a real fun, thrill, pain whatever...driving past through them..and let me tell you, unlike common conception, Wagon R doesn't shake while being overtaken by a Volvo..not at all..One funny thing was, there was a worn out overbridge on some river on the way and it had a notice "Heavy vehicles are not allowed. Brigde is worn out and not capable of .....so and so"...but we could see no alternate road for this bridge, and all heavy vehilces were on the same bridge at the same moment... .scary enough.. At last, around 3 AM in the night we reached Pune outskirts. To our merry, it was drizzling slightly and the weather was too good. I dropped other persons at their homes and got back to mine at 4 AM. Somehow I felt so much relaxed and my fever and fatigue was lot, m not sure whether its due to the long drive or the car lag during the journey, red cutie didnt disappoint me at any juncture. It was so much stable and calm throughout. having 4 people seated makes a huge difference. There were no shaky turns, swift braking ( I remember it got down to 10 kmph from 100 kmph in a very short timespan once without skidding or shaking), we took few sharp turns at 70- 80 kmph without fishtailing or even without tyres chirping sounds. I heard a lot about Wagon R's being a tall boy and shaky nature on highways but it was altogether a different experience. I was very much secure inside it and never for a moment it lost grip on roads. While on highways, it is utmost important to love your vehicle, have faith in your machine and your luck, and passion for driving. God saves you from all the undesired events I hope haven't bored you too much. Just to avoid overdose, planning to post the more adventurous journey from Pune to Hyderabad (return) in Red cutie a bit later today or tomorrow. Adventurous in the sense that it was being accomplished by a newbie driver alone driving 600 kms consistently with only 1 or 2 short breaks...and much more adventures on road will keep you posted. Last edited by sforsarang : 29th July 2007 at 15:05. Reason: Accidentally inserted more smileys..

29th July 2007, 15:31	#2 (permalink)
akroy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,359 View My Garage	What is a travelogue without pics???? Put them on fast,..... Abhi __________________ ------------------------------------ 2003 Bajaj Caliber115 \| 2006 Alto LXi ------------------------------------

29th July 2007, 15:35	#3 (permalink)
Sam Kapasi Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (but watch this space) Posts: 6,446 View My Garage	Hi there. A very interesting travelogue sarang. Thanks. But I'm going to agree with akroy and say __________________ Live the YetiLife® Ohne Dich ist alles doof. Last edited by Sam Kapasi : 29th July 2007 at 15:41.

29th July 2007, 16:06	#5 (permalink)
Zappo Team-BHP Moderator Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 2,571	Hmmm... sforsarang, Travelogues are immensely popular in Team BHP. Anyone who has been here for sometime has been bitten by the travel bug. Driving through valleys, ravines and flat highways has a charm of its own. However as you would have now realized these guys won't relent unless you post pics. By the way, why is this thread called blah blah [Part 1]? I thought you will add pics of it in Part 2... __________________ Having problems with new board rules? A solution is available at hand. Upload photos only on Team BHP server. Learn How. Classifieds section has its rules. Read here.

1st August 2007, 16:21	#8 (permalink)
speedmiester BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 268	So u finally did the night driving. Its good to hear that everything went well. But as you said and everyone here agrees with it, night driving is a pain and is more stressful than day driving. Have done a couple of full night drives myself but if you plan it carefully its a pleasure. One advantage of night driving is no pesky two wheelers and people on road. __________________ *"My car is not leaking oil, she is just marking her territory"*

29th July 2007, 15:42	#4 (permalink)
sforsarang Newbie Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 22	Ahhhh..... I am so sorry guys but let me put an excuse that I was not feeling well while going and moreover it was a night drive so didnt focus much on clicking snaps (also there was nothing to click snaps of on roads). Yeah I did some photography in Pune but that's not part of travelogue. While coming back I was driving alone and my only intention was to get home safely so didn't stop and click snaps. But guys, hold on.. my Kashmir travelogue is on its way with lots of pics... ...and you will definitely forgive me for not clicking the pics on Pune trip once you see the Kashmir snaps... next onwards will keep posting pics too while posting travelogue...

7th August 2007, 14:17	#9 (permalink)
pjay_in BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Mangalore Posts: 97	Nice report, sforsarang. I drive a Wagon R too, and agree with you that is is a fine car whether you are driving in the city or on highways. Talking about pics, can someone tell me why it is necessary to mask our number plates? I have done it myself taking a cue from others, but not sure why.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Planning a road trip: Pune to Hyderabad	camry93	Route / Travel Queries	31	16th May 2008 20:14
Pune to Hyderabad	shoky	Route / Travel Queries	9	4th February 2008 15:17
Hyderabad Nagpur Hyderabad Trip in Palio Stil 1.6	guyonblackybx	Travelogues	18	28th January 2008 20:24
Seeking Info on Night driving and Wagon R [Hyderabad-Pune]	sforsarang	Route / Travel Queries	17	18th July 2007 23:54
Red convertible in HYDERABAD..... Mazda Miata MX-5	cooldude1988765	Super-Cars & Imports in India	20	28th September 2006 10:52