[ghodlur]

Any update on the Solapur - Bijapur stretch? Are the roads motorable with decent speeds achievable? I am to do this stretch during Christmas and would like to know the status. Also how is Solapur - Akkalkot road condition? Smooth. Planning a quick run on this road in the coming days.

[adi_gt]

I am contemplating a car trip from Bangalore to Agra(hometown) for a long time, almost 4-5 years. I am not aware of the road conditions in MP after Nagpur. Any updates on the N-S corridor in MP especially between Nagpur to Gwalior ?

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip update:

Here's an account of my road trip from Bangalore to Allahabad.

Date: 16th Dec'14
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Left Bangalore (C.V.Raman Nagar) at 4:37 hours with Full tank.

Odometer - 0 km
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Crossed Old madras road-nagawara junction and took NH7 on the left

Drove upto Devanahalli and paid the first toll around 5:11 hours

Continued to enjoy the road

Coffee break - 15 minutes

Anantapur- 7:28 hours, Odo - 217 km

Karnool - 8:54 hours, Odo - 357 km

Breakfast - 20 min

Hyderabad - 11:30 hours, Odo - 547 km <------- 1st major milestone

Took Exit 6 towards Nagpur/Adilabad - 12:10 hours, Odo - 615 km

Lunch Break - 20 min

Medchul - 12:20 hours, Odo - 617.5 km - Bad Road for about 3 KM (speed reduced to about 20kmph)

Adilabad - 16:00 hours, Odo - 892 km

Tank Refill - 10 min

Hinganghat - 14:30 hours, Odo - 911 km - Some bad patches (50 Meters)

Odo - 918 km Onwards - Extremely Bad Road, full of deep pot holes, car had several underbody scratches (including fuel tank) and I was absolutely frustrated but determined to make it to destination safe and sound. There were no other passenger cars visible other than the trucks and some occasional Sumos & Scorpios.

Odo - 933 - Good road starts

Wadki - 17:33 hours, Odo - 969 km - Bad road starts (as worse as the stretch from Hinganghat)

Odo - 992 km - Good roads (Toll road)

Buti bori - 19:30 hours, Odo - 1058 km <------- 2nd major milestone
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Night halt in Hotel Royal Regency (nothing royal except for good staff).
-----------------------------------------
Date: 17th Dec'14

Left Buti bori at 6:14 hours, Odo - 1059 km (didnt even get proper tea/coffee anywhere, thermos water had become cold)

Odo - 1197 km - Excellent roads (Nagpur-Jabalpur bypass)

Odo - 1255 km - Drove through Pench national park (slightly patchy, not as good as those in Bandiput national park)

Break (15 minutes) at 9:45 hours, Odo - 1264 km - stopped at a roadside dhaba for tea/hot water but the oven was yet to pick up heat so left.

Odo - 1269.8 km - Pench national park continues

Dhuma - 10:30 1298.5 - 10:30 am

Jabalpur - 11:45 hours, Odo - 1372 km (took 15 minutes to take the bypass through heavy traffic and hit the highway) <------- 3rd major milestone

Machgaon - 16:15 hours, Odo - 1605 km - Bad road starts

Chitrakoot - 17:51 hours, Odo - 1636 km - Bad road continues (speed reduced to 20 kmph at times)

Continued through Karwi, Mau, Muraka ... and crossed Naini bridge at 21:15 hours <------- 4th major milestone (Destination - Allahabad)

Drove through Mumford ganj, Colonel ganj etc. and reached my in-laws house in Govindpur colony at 21:45 hours, Odo - 1770 km.
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I am not going to take the same route to return to Bangalore. Will post an update after finalizing the route. I will be starting from Allahabad on 1st or 2nd Jan'15.

[woof]

Any idea about road conditions from Delhi - Pathankot - Dalhousie - Khajjiar?

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by woof

Any idea about road conditions from Delhi - Pathankot - Dalhousie - Khajjiar?

The only section you need to bother about is Dalhousie to Khajjiar as it is a narrow road and there may have been some snow fall. Delhi To Pathankot should be a breeze except for fog ( depending upon the time of the day you drive). Did Pathankot - Noida in 8.5 hours last June including stops in a car that was not really in good shape and experiencing overheating problems.

[psvinay]

Planning a road trip from Trissur to Kodaikanal next week. Route I have in mind is Trissur -> Vadakkencherry -> Nemmara -> Kollengode -> Pollachi -> Udumalpet -> Palani -> Kodai. Is this the best route to take considering the present road conditions?

Thanks in advance..

[ampere]

Originally Posted by psvinay

Planning a road trip from Trissur to Kodaikanal next week. Route I have in mind is Trissur -> Vadakkencherry -> Nemmara -> Kollengode -> Pollachi -> Udumalpet -> Palani -> Kodai. Is this the best route to take considering the present road conditions?

Thanks in advance..

Yes thats the best possible option. The other advantage is you also get to go via Pollachi, where you can plan for a break.

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip Photos.

Here are some road photos from the trip. Hope this will help those planning a trip on the same route.

Photos do not convey the real condition of the roads enough.

My recommendation is to avoid,

(i) NH-7 - Adilabad to Nagpur - worst road, there is no road at all. My car got severely bruised underneath. even the turbocharger hose became loose in this section due to severe off-roading. I realised this after visiting VW service station in Allahabad.

(ii) NH-7-Satna-Chitrakoot Dham- Allahabad - this road is severely damaged with lots of deep potholes we barely managed to cross this dacoit prone area during night with very few vehicles on road.

Here are the good roads , will post the bad ones shortly.

Note: Image Filenames have the location details.

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip Photos - 2

Medchal to Adilabad Stretch on NH7:







Adilabad to Hinganghat on NH7:

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip Photos - 3

Some more photos of bad roads between Adilabad to Hinganghat:

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip Photos - 4

Last few photos of the bad patches between Adilabad to Hinganghat on NH-7. My ordeal continued till evening after dark but by then my wife had given up taking any more photos... the last stretch of about 10-12 km upto Buti Bori was much better.

Finally we reached Buti Bori at around 8 and checked in to the hotel for the night stay (in Hotel Royal Regency). This hotel is about 26 km before Nagpur on the left of NH-7 when coming from Adilabad.

Note: there are numerous diversions and some of them very dangerous. Will post more pictures tomorrow.

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip Photos - 5

Here are some shots of the good roads of Nagpur Bypass. As evident, these are the best of the roads and a pride and joy to drive on.
Open the images in expanded form for more detailed view.

Nagpur Bypass - A few shots

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip Photos - 6

More shots...
(i) Nagpur Jabalpur Bypass



(ii) Ramtek




(iii) Seoni

[BlackBerry]

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Allahabad Trip Photos - 7

Here's the last set...

Note that all these are NH-7

(iv) Approaching Pench National Park (beyond Seoni)






(v) Maihar to Satna (beyond Seoni)






(vi) Satna to Chitrakoot Dham

[vdi]

Planning a trip to Pune from Cochin and intending to hit NH4 thru Mysore.
The route would be Cochin - Mysore - Hiriyur - Davangere - Kolhapur - Pune and back.

I would like to know the route condition till Hiriyur and also a good place to stay either at Chithradurga or Davangere.